After a mid trimester break, the UNSW Earth and Environmental Science class is back. To finish the term, we are investigating Sydney’s soil lead pollution.
Each of the one hundred students is invited to bring a soil sample from home. For those living in campus or in apartments, they get to sample soils on campus.
In the class, they are shown how x-ray fluorescence analyses can be used to analyse for heavy metals in soils. Our focus is on soil lead, and the students will analyse and interpret their class dataset over the next three weeks
We also took the opportunity to invite colleagues from the School of Biological Earth and Environmental Sciences to bring samples in from their homes for analysis. They will be getting their results soon
Sydney soil pollution from lead is well publicised thanks to the VegeSafe program that has operated for around a decade. More information can be found at https://theconversation.com/elevated-lead-levels-in-sydney-back-yards-heres-what-you-can-do-68499#
Andy Baker 
Leave a comment