The contaminant legacy from historic coastal landfills and their potential as sources of diffuse pollution

Patterns of sediment metal data suggest typical anthropogenic pollution chronologies for saltmarsh sediments in industrialised nations. However, many metals were also enriched at depth in close proximity to the landfill boundary and are indicative of a historical leachate plume. Though this total metal load is low, e.g., c. 1200 and 1650 kg Pb and Zn respectively, with > 1000 historic landfills on flood risk or eroding coastlines in the UK this could represent a significant, yet under-investigated, source of diffuse pollution.