Smith, B.; Ferguson, A.J.; Baldock, J.W.; Breward, N.; Flight, D.M.A.; Fordyce, F.M.; Green, P.M.; Haslam, H.W.; Hutchins, M.G.; Lister, T.R.; MacKenzie, A.C.; Rawlins, B.G.; Strutt, M.H.; Wiggans, G.N.; Williams, L.. 1999 The role of geochemical baselines in the assessment of land quality. In: Abstracts of the 17th SEGH European Conference. Glasgow, UK, University of Glasgow and SEGH, 1pp.
Abstract
In the light of recent European and UK government legislation there is a need to identify and
quantify the potential hazard of contaminated land. Previous attempts to define ‘safe levels’
of Potentially Harmful Elements and Species (PHES) have proved to be less than satisfactory.
For example, when the Council of European Communities (CEC) guideline for nickel was
applied to regional geochemical baseline data in Finland, extensive areas of the north-west of
the country were designated as contaminated it spite of their being little evidence of harm to
the indigenous population or environment. In the UK, many areas containing high
concentrations (i.e. above the Inter-governmental Committee on Redevelopment of
Contaminated Land trigger values) of PHES have been identified. There is a clear role for
geochemical baselines in assessing and revising these guidelines, and in the assessment of
their potential economic impact.
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