URBAN-GEOCHEMISTRY - A STUDY OF THE INFLUENCE OF ANTHROPOGENIC ACTIVITY ON THE HEAVY-METAL CONTENT OF SOILS IN TRADITIONALLY INDUSTRIAL ANDNONINDUSTRIAL AREAS OF BRITAIN

Heavy metal concentrations have been determined in topsoils (0-15cm) i n the London Borough of Richmond-upon-Thames, a non-industrial, mainly residential area of approximately 56 km(2), and Wolverhampton an indu strial city in the West Midlands of 70 km(2). Soil samples were taken on a grid basis at a density of four per km(2) and analysis for 25 ele ments was carried out by Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Sp ectrometry (ICP-AES). Topsoils in Richmond were found to have signific antly higher concentrations of heavy metals in developed locations com pared to areas of open space, whilst in Wolverhampton topsoils a great er degree of contamination with Zn was found than with Pb. GIS-based m apping techniques used in conjunction with statistical analysis of the data have highlighted the influence of land-use on the heavy metal co ntent of topsoils in these two urban areas. The highest concentrations of Pb in Richmond-upon-Thames ( > 1000 mu g/g) tend to occur close to major road junctions on roads with high traffic densities. High level s of Pb (approx. 500 mu g/g) also occur in the areas where the oldest housing is located (> 100 a). In Wolverhampton the highest concentrati ons of heavy metals, Zn in particular, are generally located to the ea st of the city in areas of both historical and contemporary industrial activity. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd