Research project: X-ray core scanners as a novel environmental forensic tool
Environmental forensics describes the process where scientific evidence is used to support legal investigations against companies that may have caused pollution.
Environmental forensics describes the process where scientific evidence is used to support legal investigations against companies that may have caused pollution.
In a recently commissioned study by ISPRA (Italy), Professor Ian Croudace systematically investigated six sediment cores collected from the highly polluted Augusta Harbour (Sicily) using radiochronological and geochemical methods. One aspect of the research showed the considerable value of using the Itrax X-ray sediment core scanner (co-invented by Croudace) to provide a broad range of high-resolution geochemical data (including elevated Hg, Ba and Se). The Itrax takes 1-2 days to automatically scan a 1 metre core compared with traditional geochemical methods that would typically take two weeks. Its potential contribution to environmental forensic studies is discussed in a forthcoming Springer book - Developments in Environmental Research 'Micro-XRF Studies of Sediment Cores'
The macrotidal Severn Estuary has received a broad range of industrial discharges since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. A more recent anthropogenic input to the estuary has been technogenic tritium (specifically organically bound tritium, OBT). This was derived from a specialized industrial laboratory producing custom radiolabeled compounds for life science research and diagnostic testing from 1980 until 2008. This study examined OBT interaction with estuarine sediment by acquiring a broad range of geochemical and sedimentological data from a suite of sediment cores collected from the northern side of the Estuary.