The distribution of heavy metals in deposited urban dusts and sediments, Coventry, England

Samples of urban dusts and sediments have been collected and categorised into three compartment those which act mainly as sources, those undergoing transport and those which have been deposited. The sediments were fractionated into < 63 mu m to match similar sized lacustrine sediments and < 2 mm to represent natural and anthropogenic fluvially transported sediments. Preliminary results of total heavy metals analysis show that the < 2 mm fraction of the source group exhibits the greatest variabilty in metal concentrations. Overall, however, the < 63 mu m fraction dominates regardless of compartment. Some heavy metal concentrations decrease through the source-transport-deposit process, possibly due to selective onward transport of finer material or other anthropogenic processes unique to the urban environment (e.g. street cleansing). Site-specificity is indicated in a comparison with other similar studies.