LINKING HISTORICAL SMELTER EMISSIONS ACROSS HUMBERSIDE (UK) TO ENHANCED SOIL METAL CONCENTRATIONS USING GEOSTATISTICS AND PRESERVED ENVIRONMENTAL SAMPLES

Abstract

Analysis of human malignancies on Humberside (UK) in 1984 showed an increased risk close to the site of the local smelter. Geochemical survey data for Pb and Sn in soil collected soon after the smelter closed showed elevated concentrations relative to local background levels, and a strong spatial trend related to the prevailing wind direction. No historical emission data existed and evidence associating the smelter with the putative soil contamination plume was considered equivocal. In this work we test the hypotheses that: a) historical data can be used to estimate the excess quantities of Pb and Sn in the soil; b) tree bark & attic dust can act as historical archives of particulate deposition; c) geochemical and mineralogical information assist in linking the source of the metal and the historical contamination plume.