Advanced Contamination Suite

The Advanced Contamination Suite builds on the Standard Contamination Suite with an expanded breakdown of - and focus on - petroleum hydrocarbons. While the Standard suite looks at total petroleum hydrocarbons within the C10-C40 range, here we break these down into individual bands - or fractions - and split them into aliphatic and aromatic groupings.
 
Petroleum hydrocarbons are mixtures of organic compounds that are usually derived from fossil fuels and particularly crude oil. Hydrocarbons are components of a vastly extensive range of commercial products including but not limited to: sealants, tars, sealants, greases, solvents, paints, creosote, aviation and vehicle fuels, heavy fuel oils and asphalt.
 
The suite also includes a measure of levels of potentially harmful elements that could be lurking in your soil including heavy metals such as lead, cadmium and arsenic; benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) and other polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (MAHs or BTEX), asbestos and more. 
 
The full list of elements included here is as follows:
 
Soil Colour 
Other Material 
Soil Texture 
Boron (Hot Water Soluble) 
ACM Type 
Asbestos 
Cyanide (Total) 
Arsenic 
Cadmium 
Chromium 
Copper 
Mercury (total)
Nickel 
Lead 
Selenium
Zinc 
Chromium (Hexavalent) 
Total Phenols
 
Petroleum Hydrocarbons (PHCs)
Aliphatic TPH >C5-C6
Aliphatic TPH >C6-C8
Aliphatic TPH >C8-C10
Aliphatic TPH >C10-C12 
Aliphatic TPH >C12-C16 
Aliphatic TPH >C16-C21
Aliphatic TPH >C21-C35 
Aliphatic TPH >C35-C44 
Total Aliphatic Hydrocarbons
 
Aromatic TPH >C5-C7 
Aromatic TPH >C7-C8
Aromatic TPH >C8-C10
Aromatic TPH >C10-C12 
Aromatic TPH >C12-C16 
Aromatic TPH >C16-C21 
Aromatic TPH >C21-C35 
Aromatic TPH >C35-C44 
Total Aromatic Hydrocarbons 
 
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs)
Naphthalene 
Acenaphthylene
Acenaphthene
Fluorene 
Phenanthrene 
Anthracene 
Fluoranthene 
Pyrene 
Benzo[a]anthracene 
Chrysene 
Benzo[b]fluoranthene 
Benzo[k]fluoranthene 
Benzo[a]pyrene
Indeno(1,2,3-c,d)Pyrene 
Dibenz(a,h)Anthracene 
Benzo[g,h,i]perylene 
Total Of 16 PAHs 
 
Monocyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (MAHs or BTEX)
Benzene
Toluene 
Ethylbenzene
m & p-Xylene 
o-Xylene 
 
PAHs are persistent organic pollutant compounds that are formed during the incomplete burning of coal, petrol, gas, wood, rubbish and other organic compounds. They are released into the air and eventually deposited on soil naturally through volcanic eruptions and forest fires and from man-made sources such as vehicle emissions and other burning of fossil fuels. Many are likely to cause skin cancer after dermal contact, lung cancer when they are breathed in and stomach cancer when they are ingested.
 
Other hydrocarbons - broadly defined as environmentally persistent organic chemical compounds made up of hydrogen and carbon atoms - are the basis of crude oil, natural gas and coal. Most emissions are the product of the burning of these. Many are known carcinogens and have been deposited on our soils as a result of industrial activity and traffic.
 
Asbestos is plain deadly, causing cancer and other deadly diseases. Regularly used to strengthen and fireproof materials, asbestos was also often sprayed on ceilings and walls to better insulate them through much of the 20th century.
 
This package is often paired with the State of Your Soil or Advanced Gardening Suite packages that provide analysis of soil pH, texture and organic matter as well as measures of major plant nutrients, including potassium, phosphorus and magnesium to help make your growing space as fertile as it can be in addition to being safe. The basic State of Your Soil package costs £125. More on this can be found by clicking here. The Advanced Gardening Suite costs £200 - more details here.