​The Dublin SURGE (Soil Urban Geochemistry) Project aims to create a baseline dataset of heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in Dublin topsoils for the first time. Most cities have well-established monitoring systems for the environmental quality of air and water, while soils as an environmental medium have received comparatively little attention. In urban areas, human activities over time can alter soil's natural chemical and physical properties through the addition of chemical contaminants, waste matter and the disturbance of soil through excavation and landscaping. This project provides information on soil chemistry in the urban environment relevant to the protection of human health, compliance with environmental legislation, land-use planning and urban regeneration.

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