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Members of the public in England were invited in 2010 to take part in a national metals survey, by collecting samples of littoral sediment from a standing water body for geochemical analysis. To our knowledge, this is the first national sediment metals survey using public participation and reveals a snapshot of the extent of metals contamination in ponds and lakes across England. Hg, Ni, Cu, Zn and Pb concentrations exceeding sediment quality guidelines for the health of aquatic biota are ubiquitous in ponds and lakes, not just in areas with a legacy of industrial activity. To validate the public sampling approach, a calibration exercise was conducted at ten water bodies selected to represent a range of lakes found across England. Sediment concentrations of Hg, Ni, Cu, Zn and Pb were measured in samples of soil, stream and littoral and deep water sediment to assess inputs. Significant differences between littoral sediment metal concentrations occur due to local variability, but also organic content, especially in upland, peat soil catchments. Variability of metal concentrations between littoral samples is shown to be low in small (

Resume Bien que la prevalence de l’infection neonatale precoce ait nettement diminue en France, passant de 0,65 a 0,23/1000 en dix ans pour les formes invasives, depuis que des recommandations nationales ont ete emises, elle reste un probleme de sante publique d’actualite. Le streptocoque du groupe B (SGB) est toujours la cause principale des infections de l’enfant a terme ou proche du terme. Du fait des strategies de prevention environ 30 % des femmes enceintes et plus de 2 % des nouveau-nes sont traites par antibiotiques. Des interrogations ont ete soulevees sur l’innocuite d’une utilisation aussi large des antibiotiques, notamment quant aux risques de developpement de resistances, d’emergence d’infections a Escherichia coli ou d’effets indesirables a long terme dus aux modifications du microbiote intestinal. Les nouvelles recommandations emises par le Centers for Disease Control and Prevention aux Etats-Unis et par d’autres pays europeens ont pour but d’ameliorer les methodes de depistage du SGB et les algorithmes d’antibioprophylaxie intrapartum chez la femme enceinte, de mieux identifier les nouveau-nes a haut risque et de limiter les evaluations biologiques chez les nouveau-nes a bas risque.

In many countries there are policies in place that impact on soils, but very few legislative or policy tools specifically for the protection of soil. Recent EU legislative proposals on soil protection have been met with opposition on the grounds of excessive cost and resource demands. With the need for evidence based policy, and recognition that involving the public in environmental monitoring is an effective way of increasing understanding and commitment, there has been growing interest in soil surveys. In addition, it is accepted that the success of environmental policies depends greatly on how effectively scientists, regulators, stakeholders, and society communicate. This paper presents the Open Air Laboratories (OPAL) Soil and Earthworm Survey as an example of public participation in soil surveys that aims to integrate the above. It is demonstrated how such surveys generate data that can be used to prioritise soil assessment, in order to address some of the concerns and objections to soil protection policies. Lessons from this pilot study in England highlight that with strategic planning of civic participation activities, this approach can deliver improvements in the quality of the evidence collected and allow for effective public involvement in policymaking and implementation, on top of direct educational benefits.

The spatial distribution of (137)Cs across the landscape and the processes controlling its redistribution are of interest because (i) (137)Cs has been widely used to quantify the movement of soil and sediments and (ii) substantial fallout of (137)Cs after the Chernobyl accident has led to contamination of foodstuffs in some places. A high-resolution airborne geophysical radiometric survey of Northern Ireland has provided an opportunity to study the distribution and possible redistribution of (137)Cs. The (137)Cs activity (recorded at 1.2 million points) is distributed in a series of bands oriented approximately 160 degrees and 115 degrees clockwise from north. Geostatistical analysis of the data shows a strong, short-range structure (correlation ranges between 0.6 and 8 km) in (137)Cs activity across the vast majority of the region; the spatial distribution shows association with a published, coarse-scale depositional pattern of (137)Cs from Chernobyl. Two indices of land form derived from a digital elevation model, namely compound topographic index and the length-slope factor of the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation, account for only 3% of the variance in (137)Cs activity. In contrast, soil type and land cover in combination (including their interaction) account for 20% of the variance. In areas that received moderate fallout from Chernobyl, soil type alone accounts for a substantial proportion of the spatially correlated (137)Cs activity. We attribute this to each soil type having a fairly uniform radiocaesium interception potential that differs from those of other soil types and that this potential controls the vertical migration of (137)Cs. Over the granitic Mourne Mountains there is a strong spatial cross-correlation between (137)Cs activity and airborne estimates of soil potassium, suggesting that the latter provides a measure of the soil's radiocaesium interception potential; this is probably dominated by the quantity of the mineral illite. Copyright (C) 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and British Geological Survey

This study reports the (137)Cs data derived from three regional and national scale High Resolution Airborne Resource and Environmental Surveys (HiRES) in northern Britain and Ireland. The detailed spatial resolution, combined with the large areas these surveys collectively cover, gives insight into large-scale deposition patterns and possible subsequent re-distribution of (137)Cs on a level that was previously not possible. The largest survey area considered covers the whole of Northern Ireland. All three data sets display some clustering of higher (137)Cs activities on high ground together with regional scale NNW-SSE and NW-SE banding features. We interpret these as representing a series of rainfall interceptions of the repeated passage of the Chernobyl plume. Our observations, obtained at 200 m flight line intervals, appear to provide significant detail in relation to existing knowledge of large scale along-wind deposition of (137)Cs.

New and emerging policies that aim to set standards for protection and sustainable use of soil are likely to require identification of geographical risk/priority areas. Soil degradation can be seen as the change or disturbance in soil quality and it is therefore crucial that soil and soil quality are well understood to protect soils and to meet legislative requirements. To increase this understanding a review of the soil quality definition evaluated its development, with a formal scientific approach to assessment beginning in the 1970s, followed by a period of discussion and refinement. A number of reservations about soil quality assessment expressed in the literature are summarised. Taking concerns into account, a definition of soil quality incorporating soil's ability to meet multifunctional requirements, to provide ecosystem services, and the potential for soils to affect other environmental media is described. Assessment using this definition requires a large number of soil function dependent indicators that can be expensive, laborious, prone to error, and problematic in comparison. Findings demonstrate the need for a method that is not function dependent, but uses a number of cross-functional indicators instead. This method to systematically prioritise areas where detailed investigation is required, using a ranking based against a desired level of action, could be relatively quick, easy and cost effective. As such this has potential to fill in gaps and compliment existing monitoring programs and assist in development and implementation of current and future soil protection legislation. Keywords: Soil, Soil degradation, Soil quality, Soil function, Environmental monitoring, EU environmental policies for soil protection

An assessment of the natural radiation dose to wildlife in England and Wales was made to determine the contribution it may make to the total radiation dose estimated during environmental impact assessments. Significant use was made of systematic datasets for environmental media (stream sediments, stream waters and soils), in particular those produced by the Geochemical Baseline Survey of the Environment (G-BASE) project. This provided extensive, although variable, coverage for different elements and sample types after normalisation of data to account for changes in sampling and analysis over time. Almost complete coverage for K in stream sediments was achieved by merging G-BASE andWolfson Atlas data. This required normalisation of theWolfson data to the G-BASE results. Coverage was improved greatly for U and Th in sediments, and K, U and Th in soils, by using the strong relationship between soils and sediments and geology (both solid and superficial) to extrapolate the data. The total U, Th and K data were used to derive activity concentrations of 238U and 232Th series radionuclides and 40K. External dose rates to wildlife were then estimated from derived media concentrations; internal dose rates were estimated from measured activities in biota or activities predicted using recommended concentration ratios.

Incidence of neonatal early-onset sepsis has dramatically declined in France from 0.65 to 0.23‰ live births in 10 years since national guidelines to detect and treat intrapartum women with group B streptococcus colonization have been adopted. However, neonatal early-onset sepsis continues to be a common healthcare burden. Group B streptococcus (GBS) remains the leading cause of bacterial infection in term or near-term infants. As a result of prevention strategies, approximately 30% of pregnant women and more than 2% of newborns are treated with systemic antibiotics. Concerns have been expressed about the safety of wide use of antibiotics such as antibiotic resistance, emergence of Escherichia coli infections, and long-term side effects due to gut microbiota modifications. New recommendations from the Centers of Disease Control in the United States and from European countries aim at improving GBS detection methods, updating algorithms for GBS intrapartum chemoprophylaxis in pregnant women, defining high-risk newborns more efficiently, and limiting biological evaluation in low-risk newborns.

Radon exposure is a chronic and serious geohazard but with the correct knowledge of its distribution provided by an accurate radon potential map, this risk to human health can be reduced through well directed radon testing programmes and building control regulations. The radon potential map presented here, produced by mapping radon concentrations in homes, grouped by underlying geology, provides the most detailed and accurate assessment of radon in England. Bedrock and superficial geology associated with the most radon prone areas are investigated using the joint HPA-BGS radon potential dataset, geological information and, where available, soil geochemistry, airborne radiometric or laboratory analysis. Some of the geological units associated with high radon potential are well known, such as the granite intrusions in south west England, the Carboniferous limestones of Derbyshire and the Jurassic ironstones in Northamptonshire. This study provides a more comprehensive description of the main bedrock geological units associated with intermediate to high radon potential in England including: granites and associated uranium mineralisation in south west England; Devonian, Carboniferous, Permian and Jurassic limestones and dolomites; Devonian, Carboniferous, Jurassic and Cretaceous sandstones; Silurian, Devonian, Lower Carboniferous and Jurassic mudstones; Jurassic ironstones; and some Triassic breccias and conglomerates. Uranium in soil is elevated over many known radon-prone areas but also reflects the accumulation of U in organic-rich soil and peat. Near surface weathering, bedrock fracturing and former working of the ironstones in the English Midlands are all implicated in increased radon potential on these geological units.

It is important to understand how and where pollution and other anthropogenic processes compromise the ability of urban soil to serve as a component of the natural infrastructure. An extensive survey of the topsoil of the Greater London Area (GLA) in the United Kingdom has recently been completed by a non-probability systematic sampling scheme. We studied data on lead content from this survey. We examined an overall hypothesis that land use, as recorded at the time of sampling, is an important source of the variation of soil lead content, and we examined specific orthogonal contrasts to test particular hypotheses about land use effects. The assumption that the residuals from land use effects are independent random variables cannot be sustained because of the non-probability sampling. For this reason model-based analyses were used to test the hypotheses. One particular contrast, between the lead content in the soil of domestic gardens and that in the soil under parkland or recreational land, was modelled as a spatially dependent random variable, predicted optimally by cokriging.We found that land use is an important source of variation in lead content of topsoil. Industrial sites had the largest mean lead content, followed by domestic gardens. Detailed contrasts between land uses are reported. For example, the lead content in soil of parkland did not differ significantly from that of recreational land, but the soil in these two land uses, considered together, had significantly less lead than did the soil of domestic gardens. Local cokriging predictions of this contrast varied substantially, and were larger in outer parts of the GLA, particularly in the south west.

The Southern Uplands-Down-Longford Terrane in south-east Northern Ireland is prospective for Caledonian-age, turbidite-hosted orogenic gold mineralisation with important deposits at Clontibret in the Republic of Ireland and in Scotland. Geochemical and geophysical data from the DETI-funded Tellus project have been used, in conjunction with other spatial geoscience datasets, to map the distribution of prospectivity for this style of mineralisation over this terrane. A knowledge-based fuzzy logic modelling methodology using Arc Spatial Data modeller was utilised. The prospectivity analysis has identified several areas prospective for turbidite-hosted gold mineralisation, comparable to that at Clontibret and gold occurrences in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. A number of these either coincide with known bedrock gold occurrences or with areas considered prospective and targeted by previous exploration work, validating the predictive capability of the exploration model devised and its translation into a GIS-based prospectivity model. The results of the modelling suggest that as in other parts of the Southern Uplands the coincidence of regional strike-parallel structures and intersecting transverse faults are highly prospective, as these are likely to create zones of anomalous stress for fluid flow and deposit accumulation. Those areas in which there are no known gold occurrences are considered to be favourable targets for further exploration and should be followed up.

The 40 years that have passed since the beginning of the ‘environmental revolution’ has seen a large increase in development of policies for the protection of environmental media and a recognition by the public of the importance of environmental quality. There has been a shift from policy in reaction to high profile events, then to control of releases to single environmental media, and to the present position of moving toward integrated management of all environmental media at present. This development has moved away from classical chemical risk assessment toward environmental holism, including recognition of the ecological value of these media. This work details how policy developments have taken place for air and water, with examples from the USA and EU, in order to compare this with policy development regarding soil. Soil, with quite different policy frameworks and distinct uses, understanding, and threats compared to other environmental media, is currently attracting attention regarding the need for its protection independent of use. Challenges for soil policy are identified and evaluated, and recommendations on how these challenges can be overcome are discussed with relevance to water and air protection policy.

Purpose Aim of the study was to determine the role of surgery in the management of congenital chylothorax (CC). Methods We retrospectively reviewed the data of patients with CC requiring medical or surgical treatment postnatally in our institution between January 2001 and March 2009. Results Ten patients were treated for CC. We divided our population into 2 groups: group A consisted of patients in whom CC healed after conservative medical treatment (thoracocentesis, pleural drainage, total parental nutrition, somatostatin, intrapleural injections of povidone-iodine), and group B of patients who needed both medical and surgical treatment (pleural abrasion and/or pleurectomy). Conservative postnatal therapy was successful in 50% of cases. Of the 3 patients treated preoperatively with intrapleural injections of povidone-iodine, 2 presented with severe complications. Surgical treatment was successful in all cases, with no surgical complications. Patients in group B had a significantly lower birth term (p=0.0254) and birth weight (p=0.0021) compared to patients in group A. Patients with a massive chylothorax (≥50 mL/kg/day) needed surgery significantly more often than those with chylothorax Conclusion The initial postnatal medical management of CC should consist of thoracocentesis, drainage by tube thoracostomy, and total parenteral nutrition. If this treatment fails after 10 days, we propose using alternative therapies such as somatostatin (although its efficacy is not clear) and surgery. Chemical pleurodesis by intrapleural injection of povidone-iodine must be avoided in infants and small babies. Surgical management by pleural abrasion and/or pleurectomy appears to be safe and effective. Early surgical management is proposed for babies with low birth term, birth weight and massive chylothorax >50 mL/kg/day. Long-term follow-up is needed to evaluate the potential consequences of this therapy.

This study presents high-resolution airborne geophysical estimates of the distribution of 137Cs across three areas of northern Britain and Ireland. The radiometric spectra were acquired as part of a program of modern resource and environmental surveying. The largest survey area considered covers the whole of Northern Ireland. All three data sets display some clustering on high ground together with regional scale banding features. The two main banding directions are approximately NNW-SSE and NW-SE. Our interpretation of the regional scale features is in relation to existing knowledge of the wet deposition model of the Chernobyl release of 1986. The airborne estimates, obtained at 200 m flight line intervals, add significant detail in relation to the meteorological and atmospheric interactions involved in the fallout from the Chernobyl plume over Western Europe.

Soil scientists require cost-effective methods to make accurate regional predictions of soil organic carbon (SOC) content. We assess the suitability of airborne radiometric data and digital elevation data as covariates to improve the precision of predictions of SOC from an intensive survey in Northern Ireland. Radiometric data (K band) and, to a lesser extent, altitude are shown to increase the precision of SOC predictions when they are included in linear mixed models of SOC variation. However the statistical distribution of SOC in Northern Ireland is bimodal and therefore unsuitable for geostatistical analysis unless the two peaks can be accounted for by the fixed effects in the linear mixed models. The upper peak in the distribution is due to areas of peat soils. This problem may be partly countered if soil maps are used to classify areas of Northern Ireland according to their expected SOC content and then different models are fitted to each of these classes. Here we divide the soil in Northern Ireland into three classes, namely mineral, organo-mineral and peat. This leads to a further increase in the precision of SOC predictions and the median square error is 2.2 %(2). However a substantial number of our observations appear to be mis-classified and therefore the mean squared error in the predictions is larger (30.6 %(2)) since it is dominated by large errors due to mis-classification. Further improvement in SOC prediction may therefore be possible if better delineation between areas of large SOC (peat) and small SOC (non-peat) could be achieved.

Synopsis 222 Rn, a natural radioactive gas produced by the radioactive decay of 238 U, accounts for about 50% of the total radiation dose to the average person in the UK. Geology is the most important factor controlling the source and distribution of radon; which has been linked to an increased risk of lung cancer. In order to prevent the public receiving high exposures to radon, it is necessary to identify those areas most at risk. We present results of new mapping of radon potential for Scotland using a method that allows the spatial variation in radon potential to be delineated both within and between geological groupings. The main geological and geochemical associations with moderate to high radon potential areas are described. The highest radon potential values in Scotland are associated with U-rich, highly evolved Siluro-Devonian biotite granite intrusions, notably those clustered within a zone to the west of Aberdeen and at Helmsdale, in Caithness. U mineralization plays a role in areas including the Helmsdale granite and the Middle Old Red Sandstone of the Orcadian Basin. Elevated radon potential is also associated with limestones – where fracture permeability is influential – and with Ordovician–Silurian greywackes. The radon potential of unconsolidated deposits, and how this affects the radon potential of the underlying bedrock, reflects both their permeabilities and their compositions.

Developments in GIS based technology have greatly aided the routine production of three-dimensional geological maps. Similarly the continued development of airborne remote sensing, geophysics and infrared measurement now provide tools that can assist in the mapping of soil structure and properties rapidly in 2D, 3D and even 4D. Whilst the combined use of such techniques have grown popular for performing site investigations and developing conceptual models of contaminated sites their use in determining and mapping soil has been restricted.

Introduction Les thromboses arterielles neonatales spontanees sont rarissimes. Il s’agit alors de thromboses cerebrales ou aortiques, rarement plus distales. Cas clinique Nous presentons le cas d’un nouveau ne masculin, issu d’une grossesse et d’un accouchement normaux. A H72, on constate une pâleur intermittente et une hypothermie du membre inferieur gauche. Le pouls femoral est diminue et le pouls pedieux absent. L’echographie doppler retrouve une thrombose arterielle partielle iliaque interne et externe. L’angioscanner confirme l’absence de passage au niveau de l’artere iliaque primitive. La NFS, la biochimie et les temps de coagulation (TP,TCA) sont normaux pour l’âge ; les D dimeres sont augmentes. Le bilan de thrombophilie montre un taux d’homocysteine normal, de proteines C et S diminue mais concordant avec l’âge. Il n’y a pas de mutation du facteur V de Leyden ni du facteur II. Une mutation MTHFR (C677T) est presente a l’etat homozygote. Un traitement par alteplase est debute, relaye par de l’HNF. A H24, une recoloration du membre est constatee. Un relais par HBPM est effectue a J10 associe a de l’aspirine a dose anti-agregante et a une vitaminotherapie (B6 et B12). Apres deux mois d’HBPM a dose curative, on constate une involution avec calcification de la thrombose. Le pouls pedieux est present, il n’y a pas de signes cliniques. Le traitement curatif est arrete et l’aspirine poursuivie. La mutation est retrouvee de facon asymptomatique a l’etat heterozygote chez le pere et homozygote chez la mere. Discussion Les thromboses arterielles peripheriques neonatales sont le plus souvent secondaires a un facteur exterieur. Un bilan de thrombophilie doit etre effectue, particulierement en cas de thrombose spontanee. La mutation MTHFR est thrombogene des la periode neonatale directement par l’hyperhomocysteinemie qu’elle peut engendrer, mais aussi en prenatal par impregnation en cas de mutation maternelle. Conclusion Les thromboses arterielles neonatales spontanees restent une pathologie rare. La recherche de predisposition genetique est de mise pour evaluer les risques de recidive et peser l’indication d’un traitement a plus long terme.

Regulatory authorities need ways to estimate natural terrestrial gamma radiation dose rates (nGy h-1) across the landscape accurately, to assess its potential deleterious health effects. The primary method for estimating outdoor dose rate is to use an in situ detector supported 1 m above the ground, but such measurements are costly and cannot capture the landscape-scale variation in dose rates which are associated with changes in soil and parent material mineralogy. We investigate the potential for improving estimates of terrestrial gamma dose rates across Northern Ireland (13542 km2) using measurements from 168 sites and two sources of ancillary data: (i) a map based on a simplified classification of soil parent material, and (ii) dose estimates from a national-scale, airborne radiometric survey. We used the linear mixed modelling framework in which the two ancillary variables were included in separate models as fixed effects, plus a correlation structure which captures the spatially correlated variance component. We used a cross-validation procedure to determine the magnitude of the prediction errors for the different models. We removed a random subset of 10 terrestrial measurements and formed the model from the remainder (n = 158), and then used the model to predict values at the other 10 sites. We repeated this procedure 50 times. The measurements of terrestrial dose vary between 1 and 103 (nGy h-1). The median absolute model prediction errors (nGy h-1) for the three models declined in the following order: no ancillary data (10.8) > simple geological classification (8.3) > airborne radiometric dose (5.4) as a single fixed effect. Estimates of airborne radiometric gamma dose rate can significantly improve the spatial prediction of terrestrial dose rate.

Introduction Les biphosphonates etaient peu utilises en pediatrie en raison de la crainte d’effets secondaires sur la croissance osseuse. Les dernieres annees ont vu un elargissement de leurs indications notamment pour l’hypercalcemie symptomatique. Nous rapportons ici le cas d’une enfant qui a presente a trois semaines de vie une hypercalcemie majeure avec cytosteatonecrose. Cette panniculite rare touche le nouveau-ne a terme ou post-terme, macrosome, aux antecedents d’hypoxie, d’hypothermie ou de traumatisme en periode perinatale. Elle se complique dans un tiers des cas d’une hypercalcemie pouvant mettre en jeu le pronostic vital. Cas clinique L’enfant est admis a trois semaines de vie pour des vomissements avec deshydratation severe. L’examen clinique retrouve une tumefaction de la cuisse gauche. Dans les antecedents, on note une naissance post-terme par cesarienne avec souffrance multiviscerale chez un nouveau-ne macrosome ayant beneficie de la supplementation calcique usuelle. Le bilan initial retrouve une hypercalcemie majeure a 4,09 mmol/l. La phosphoremie et l’albuminemie sont normales, la parathormone basse a 3,5 ng/l (N : 12-65ng/l), la 25-hydroxy-vitamine D normale a 49,9 μg/l (N : 20-50 μg/l), la 1,25– dihydroxy-vitamine D est elevee a 150 μg/l (N : 18-75 μg/l). Presence d’une nephrocalcinose a l’echographie renale. Devant l’aggravation de l’hypercalcemie jusqu’a 4,44 mmol/l malgre le regime pauvre en calcium et l’hyperdiurese pardiuretique de l’anse furosemide/Lasilix ® ), il a ete decide de traiter par biphosphonates (pamidronate/Aredia ® ) a 0,5 mg/kg/j. Deux doses, deux jours consecutifs permettent une normalisation durable de la calcemie et une disparition des signes cliniques. L’allaitement maternel et la supplementation vitamino-calcique ont pu etre reintroduit. Conclusion Peu de cas d’utilisation des biphosphonates par voie intraveineuse ont ete decrits dans la litterature comme traitement de l’hypercalcemie secondaire a une cytosteatonecrose. Dans notre exemple, l’evolution a ete rapidement favorable sans effets secondaires. Il pourrait s’agir d’une alternative interessante a la corticotherapie ou au traitement par calcitonine en cas d’hypercalcemie majeure.

The solubilities of biphenyl, between 30° and 60°, in benzene, carbon disulphide, carbon tetrachloride, heptane, dioxane and p‐dichlorobenzene have been determined. The solubilities, in all cases, are lower than ideal. The freezing point‐composition diagram for the system biphenyl‐p‐dichlorobenzene has been determined. These components yield a simple eutectic at 27.7° and at 42.5 mole percent biphenyl. Hildebrand's equation, based upon the simple Baud‐Heitler equation for the heat of mixing, yields fairly satisfactory results for solutions of biphenyl in benzene, carbon disulphide, p‐dichlorobenzene and dioxane. The results are not very satisfactory when the equation is applied to the solutions of biphenyl in carbon tetrachloride and heptane. Hildebrand's more recent equation, based upon the Menke probability function, yields fairly satisfactory results considering the nature of the assumptions made in its derivation. It is concluded that regular solution behavior should be expected only when the molecules of the constituents, in addition to being non‐polar, possess spherical symmetry.

Research has shown that the geological storage of CO2 has the potential to be an effective and safe way to rapidly reduce anthropogenic CO2 emissions. However, many stakeholders require the scientific community to demonstrate that all possible scenarios have been evaluated including the potential impacts of leakages into the biosphere. Several studies have examined the effects of naturally occurring CO2 on ecosystems. It is likely that these ecosystems will have been exposed to elevated CO2 for considerable periods and so species may have adapted. Thus the results may not be representative of the effects of possible leakage from a storage facility. However, preliminary work at the ASGARD (Artificial Soil Gassing and Response Detection) field site at the University of Nottingham has allowed some impacts of a controlled injection of CO2 on a non-adapted ecosystem and on soil chemistry to be assessed with changes observed in soil microbiology, soil geochemistry and the range and health of plants growing at the surface.