Joanna Wragg | British Geological Survey (original) (raw)

Papers by Joanna Wragg

Assessment of elevated concentrations of potentially toxic elements (PTE) in soils and their asso... more Assessment of elevated concentrations of potentially toxic elements (PTE) in soils and their association with specific soil parent material have been the focus of BGS research for a number of years. Utilising a comprehensive geochemical dataset for soils from Northern Ireland provided by the Tellus Survey project, plus supplementary bioaccessibility testing of selected soil samples, geostatistical analysis highlighted where individual element concentrations exceeded generic assessment criteria and may reflect an unacceptable risk to human health. Bioaccessibility testing showed that for some soil parent materials associated with elevated total PTE concentrations, the measured oral bioaccessible fraction was relatively low. For other soil parent materials with relatively moderate total PTE concentrations, the measured oral bioaccessible fraction was relatively high. These findings have implications for regional human health risk assessments for specific PTEs. The research has resulte...

Proceedings

We describe a study in which time-laspe electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) has been used to ... more We describe a study in which time-laspe electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) has been used to investigate an aged (>100 years old) section of earth embankment on an operational railway (Great Central Railway (GCR), Nottingham, UK). Monitoring has been undertaken using a permanently installed ERT array extending across the embankment from toe to toe. Part I of the study (Munro et al., 2012) describes our approach to ERT data collection and processing, including corrections for seasonal temperature changes, and the implementation of a procedure to translate time-lapse resistivity models into gravimetric moisture content. Here, in Part II of the study, we use the derived models of gravimetric moisture content to assess the internal condition of the earth embankment. These results show that this can be monitored noninvasively, and at a high spatial resolution, using ERT.

The aim of this study was to establish the relationship between the measured bioaccessibility and... more The aim of this study was to establish the relationship between the measured bioaccessibility and the solid-phase distribution of arsenic in Wellingborough soils. Arsenic is known to be present in soils in the Wellingborough area of Northamptonshire at concentrations up to c. 100 mg kg-1, which is above the soil guideline value of 20 mg kg-1 for this element in residential gardens, with or without plant uptake, and allotments. Four different locations were chosen from around the Wellingborough area as test sites for use in the study, two gardens, a Country Park and a new housing development site. In total 21 samples were collected to represent the ranges of As in the Wellingborough test soils at these locations. To achieve the aim of this study the test soils were chemically characterised using a combination of analytical techniques that included XRFS and mixed acid digestion/ICP-AES, XRD, soil pH, TOC and CEC. The bioaccessible arsenic content of the soils was measured using a phys...

Best Scientific (or Verification) Advancement - Assessment of the Bioaccessibility of Carcinogeni... more Best Scientific (or Verification) Advancement - Assessment of the Bioaccessibility of Carcinogenic Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Soil - Parsons Brinckerhoff, British Geological Survey, National Grid Property, University of Nottingham and University of Ghent.

One of the principal pathways for potentially harmful elements (PHE) in soil to enter the human b... more One of the principal pathways for potentially harmful elements (PHE) in soil to enter the human body is through ingestion. The amount of PHE which enters the systemic circulation is governed by the amount of PHE released in the Gastrointestinal Tract, this is the bioaccessible fraction. A geochemical survey of the soils of Northampton, located on ironstone soils with naturally elevated arsenic concentrations, carried out by the BGS G-BASE project showed that 45% of the 275 soils sampled contained total arsenic concentrations exceeding the Environment Agency soil guideline value (SGV) of 32 mg kg-1. A newly validated in-vitro bioaccessibility test was used to measure the bioaccessibility of arsenic and other PHEs on a representative subset of 50 of the soils showed a maximum bioaccessibility value of 10 mg kg-1 arsenic. A systematic study of the relationship between the bioaccessible fraction of arsenic and other PHE with the geochemical make up of the soil, the solid phase distribut...

This report describes a preliminary study undertaken in advance of the BARGE UBM international in... more This report describes a preliminary study undertaken in advance of the BARGE UBM international inter-laboratory trial to investigate the use of 0.1M nitric acid as an effective preservative for the ‘stomach’ and ‘stomach & intestinal’ extracts produced in the in vitro methodology. Results for preserved and unpreserved extracts are described for measurements collected over a period of c. 1 month, with an evaluation of the extract stability and recommendations for the full BARGE inter-laboratory trial.

The importance of selenium in human and animal health is already widely recognised, and targeted ... more The importance of selenium in human and animal health is already widely recognised, and targeted studies have been undertaken in many areas of chronic deficiency problems, as well as those of selenosis (excess selenium). One of the most important sources of selenium in the human diet is thought to be from cereal grain, particularly via bread intake.

A pilot survey, focusing on potentially toxic elements (PTE) in house dust collected from ninetee... more A pilot survey, focusing on potentially toxic elements (PTE) in house dust collected from nineteen households from the industrial city of Estarreja, was carried out for purposes of human exposure assessment studies. This study aims at investigating the influence of the dust mineralogy and geochemistry on the oral bioaccessibility of chosen PTEs, as estimated by the Unified BARGE method Pseudo-total and bioaccessible concentrations of major and trace elements were determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). The mineral composition of indoor and paired outdoor dust samples was determined by means of X-ray diffraction analysis. The results show that the chemical composition of the dust samples discriminates completely between indoor and outdoor dust samples. The stepwise multiple discriminant analysis model obtained indicates that sodium, magnesium, cadmium, and iron are the most important variables in the discrimination. The mineralogy is dominated by calcite,...

Proceedings of the Eleventh International Conference on Computational Structures Technology

Scientific Reports

Degradability of organic matter (OM) in soil depends on its spatial location in the soil matrix. ... more Degradability of organic matter (OM) in soil depends on its spatial location in the soil matrix. A recent breakthrough in 3D-localization of OM combined dual-energy X-ray CT-scanning with OsO4 staining of OM. The necessity for synchrotron-based µCT and the use of highly toxic OsO4 severely limit applications in soil biological experiments. Here, we evaluated the potential of alternative staining agents (silver nitrate, phosphomolybdenic acid (PMA), lead nitrate, lead acetate) to selectively enhance X-ray attenuation and contrast of OM in CT volumes of soils containing specific mineral soil particle fractions, obtained via lab-based X-ray µCT. In comparison with OsO4, administration of Ag+ and Pb2+ resulted in insufficient contrast enhancement of OM versus fine silt (

Journal of Hazardous Materials

Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts

Science of The Total Environment

Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh

ABSTRACTThe chemical composition of soil from the Glasgow (UK) urban area was used to identify th... more ABSTRACTThe chemical composition of soil from the Glasgow (UK) urban area was used to identify the controls on the availability of potentially harmful elements (PHEs) in soil to humans. Total and bioaccessible concentrations of arsenic (As), chromium (Cr) and lead (Pb) in 27 soil samples, collected from different land uses, were coupled to information on their solid-phase partitioning derived from sequential extraction data. The total element concentrations in the soils were in the range <0.1–135mgkg–1 for As; 65–3680mgkg–1 for Cr and 126–2160mgkg–1 for Pb, with bioaccessible concentrations averaging 27, 5 and 27% of the total values, respectively. Land use does not appear to be a predictor of contamination; however, the history of the contamination is critically important. The Chemometric Identification of Substrates and Element Distribution (CISED) sequential chemical extraction and associated self-modelling mixture resolution analysis identified three sample groupings and 16 g...

Journal of hazardous materials, Jan 15, 2018

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a group of organic compounds consisting of two or mor... more Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a group of organic compounds consisting of two or more fused aromatic rings and are probably one of the most studied groups of organic chemicals in environmental research. PAHs originate mainly from anthropogenic processes, particularly from incomplete combustion of organic fuels. PAHs are distributed widely in particulate matter. Due to widespread sources and persistent characteristics, PAHs disperse through atmospheric transport and exist almost everywhere. Human beings are exposed to PAH mixtures in gaseous or particulate phases in ambient air. Long-term exposure to high concentrations of PAHs is associated with adverse health problems. This review identifies the main research and development themes in the measurement and occurrences of PAHs in dusts and particulates using a new approach to carrying out a literature review where many peer-review publications have been produced. The review extracts the most important research themes from...

This paper describes a methodology developed to assess and apportion probable indoor and outdoor ... more This paper describes a methodology developed to assess and apportion probable indoor and outdoor sources of potentially toxic elements while identifying chemical signatures in the household dust collected from private homes in an industrial city (Estarreja, central Portugal). Oral bioaccessibility estimates and the chemical composition of toenail clippings were used to assess indoor dust ingestion as a potential exposure pathway and further investigate exposure–biomarker relationships. Indoor and paired outdoor dust samples were collected from each household. A total of 30 individuals, who provided toenail clippings and a self-reported questionnaire, were recruited for the study. Total concentrations of 34 elements, including lead and zinc, were determined in washed toenail samples and household dust via Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry. The oral bioaccessibility was estimated using the Unified BARGE Method. The enrichment factor shows that lead was enriched (10 < EF ...