Contaminated land: can acute exposure be a significant health risk? Two case studies and associated risk assessment methods.

Contaminated land risk assessments generally focus on the chronic health risks, arising from long-term, low-level exposure to the contaminants, and a number of risk assessment tools are in routine use. Situations where significant acute risks might be present are not commonly encountered, and methods for risk assessment are less well established. We present two recent case studies from the northwest of England, the first an area of public open space, and the second an occupied school site, with the associated risk assessments.