LEAD, ZINC AND CHROMIUM IN SEDIMENTS AROUND ENGLAND AND WALES

As part of a baseline study for the Joint Monitoring Group, sediment s amples were collected around England and Wales during 1990/1991. The c oncentrations of lead, zinc, chromium and aluminium were measured in t he <2 mm fraction of the sediments. After normalization, concentration s of lead, zinc and chromium were found to be higher near the coast th an offshore. Lead and zinc concentrations were found to be notably ele vated near the north-east coast of England, an area which receives bot h industrial inputs and erosion products from the mineralized areas of the Pennine Hills. Relatively high chromium concentrations were found not only near the coast but also, for reasons which at present are un clear, at the Dogger Bank.