9df8df52-d75d-37a8-e044-0003ba9b0d98 English dataset British Geological Survey +44 115 936 3100 Environmental Science Centre,Keyworth NOTTINGHAM NOTTINGHAMSHIRE NG12 5GG United Kingdom enquiries@bgs.ac.uk pointOfContact 2026-04-30 UK GEMINI 2.3 http://data.bgs.ac.uk/id/dataHolding/13605363 OSGB 1936 / British National Grid (EPSG::27700) Estimated Urban Soil Chemistry Great Britain (version 1) GB_EstimatedUrbanSoilChemistry 2009 creation http://data.bgs.ac.uk/id/dataHolding/13605363 The BGS digital estimated urban soil chemistry data (GB_EstimatedUrbanSoilChemistry_v3) indicates the estimated geometric mean concentrations (mg kg-1) of Arsenic (As), Cadmium (Cd), Chromium (Cr), Nickel (Ni) and Lead (Pb) in topsoil derived by spatial interpolation of the point source urban soil chemistry data. The information is relevant for the first stage of any assessment of risks to human health required by regulatory authorities in relation to land use and also assessing ecological risks. Estimated topsoil PHE (Potentially Harmful Element) concentrations above respective SGVs (Soil Guideline Value) do not necessarily imply a significant health risk but they do highlight the need to consider whether or not there may be a risk. Comparison of this spatially referenced geochemical data set with information on current or historic land use and geological information might help environmental professionals decide whether high PHE concentrations in topsoils can be attributed to geogenic or anthropogenic sources. The dataset is based on, and limited to, an interpretation of the records in the possession of the BGS at the time the dataset was created. An indication of high estimated PHE concentrations in soil does not necessarily mean that an individual site will have a high PHE concentration. Topsoil concentrations in urban areas are frequently characterised by strong spatial variation over short distances so this data should be interpreted and used with caution. The original urban topsoil samples were collected and analysed as part of the BGS Geochemical Baseline Survey of the Environment (G-BASE) project. Enquiries British Geological Survey 0115 936 3143 0115 936 3276 Environmental Science Centre, Nicker Hill, Keyworth NOTTINGHAM NOTTINGHAMSHIRE NG12 5GG United Kingdom enquiries@bgs.ac.uk distributor Enquiries British Geological Survey 0115 936 3143 0115 936 3276 Environmental Science Centre, Nicker Hill, Keyworth NOTTINGHAM NOTTINGHAMSHIRE NG12 5GG United Kingdom enquiries@bgs.ac.uk pointOfContact Enquiries British Geological Survey 0115 936 3143 0115 936 3276 Environmental Science Centre, Nicker Hill, Keyworth NOTTINGHAM NOTTINGHAMSHIRE NG12 5GG United Kingdom enquiries@bgs.ac.uk custodian asNeeded https://resources.bgs.ac.uk/images/geonetworkThumbs/9df8df52-d75d-37a8-e044-0003ba9b0d98.png Geology GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0 2008-06-01 publication Soil chemistry Cadmium Chromium Lead Nickel Arsenic BGS Thesaurus of Geosciences 2022 revision UK Location (INSPIRE) dataCentre NERC_DDC otherRestrictions license Either : (i) the dataset has not been formally approved by BGS for access and use by external clients under license; and / or (ii) the dataset contains 3rd party data or information obtained by BGS under terms and conditions that must be consulted before the dataset can be provided to, or accessed by, BGS staff or external clients. Refer to the BGS staff member responsible for the creation of the dataset if further advice is required. He / she should be familiar with the composition of the dataset, particularly with regard to 3rd party IPR contained in it, and any resultant access restrictions. This staff member should revert to the IPR Section (IPR@bgs.ac.uk) for advice, should the position not be clear. otherRestrictions The copyright of materials derived from the British Geological Survey's work is vested in the Natural Environment Research Council [NERC]. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the prior permission of the copyright holder, via the BGS Intellectual Property Rights Manager. Use by customers of information provided by the BGS, is at the customer's own risk. In view of the disparate sources of information at BGS's disposal, including such material donated to BGS, that BGS accepts in good faith as being accurate, the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) gives no warranty, expressed or implied, as to the quality or accuracy of the information supplied, or to the information's suitability for any use. NERC/BGS accepts no liability whatever in respect of loss, damage, injury or other occurence however caused. The dataset is made available to external clients under BGS Digital Data Licence terms and conditions. Revert to the IPR Section (iprdigital@bgs.ac.uk) if further advice is required with regard to permitted usage. vector 50000 English geoscientificInformation ISO 3166_2 2009 revision GBN British Geological Survey Gazetteer: Geographical hierarchy from Geosaurus 1979 creation GREAT BRITAIN [id=139600] -8.6500 1.7800 49.7700 60.8600 1968 2010 User Guide for the British Geological Survey Urban Soil Chemistry dataset (BGS Internal Report IR/11/039) ESRI Shapefile 1994 Enquiries British Geological Survey 0115 936 3143 0115 936 3276 Environmental Science Centre, Nicker Hill, Keyworth NOTTINGHAM NOTTINGHAMSHIRE NG12 5GG United Kingdom enquiries@bgs.ac.uk distributor https://www.bgs.ac.uk/ WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link BGS Homepage The BGS Homepage is an entry point to the BGS data services. information dataset dataset INSPIRE Implementing rules laying down technical arrangements for the interoperability and harmonisation of Geology 2011 publication See the referenced specification false Commission Regulation (EU) No 1089/2010 of 23 November 2010 implementing Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards interoperability of spatial data sets and services 2010-12-08 publication See http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2010:323:0011:0102:EN:PDF false The dataset is derived from high resolution urban soil geochemical data from the BGS Geochemical Baseline Survey of the Soil geochemical surveys have been carried out, by BGS, at 24 urban centres in England, Scotland and Wales. Urban geochemical surveying is based on the collection of samples on a 500 m grid at a density of approximately 4 samples per km2 across the urban areas. Samples were collected from open ground as close as possible to the centre of each 500 m grid cell. At each sample site, composite samples based on 5 sub-samples taken at the centre and four corners of a 20m square, were collected from the topsoil ('A' soil sample; 5-20 cm depth) and subsurface ('S'soil sample; 35-50 cm depth). Approximately 40 chemical elements were determined in the <2mm size fraction of the 'A' soils. Either the <150 micron or <2mm fraction of the 'S' soil samples were analysed. The point source urban soil chemistry data contain analysed results from these sampling campaigns. This dataset indicates the estimated topsoil As, Cd, Cr, Ni and Pb concentrations (mg kg-1) derived by spatial interpolation of the point source urban soil PHE data. Urban soil geochemical data generally have large positive skewness coefficients so were transformed by taking natural logarithms. To overcome the bias associated with traditional measures of location (mean) and scale (standard deviation) for log-normal data, the inverse distance weighted (IDW) mean and standard deviation of log transformed.