Case study using a new experimental design for the quantification of contaminant heterogeneity in soils

The initial results of this study indicate that the new sampling design used in conjunction with the duplicate method has characterised heterogeneity at a range of scales for Pb, Zn and Cu at two contrasting sites. The degree of heterogeneity can be expressed numerically in terms of relative standard deviations for each sampling distance and could be used in the development of improved sampling strategies for secondary site investigations. Further work is required to implement the design at a site expected to have even higher heterogeneity, quantify heterogeneity of contaminants at scales less than 0.02m, and assess the impact of observed heterogeneity on plant uptake of these metals.