{
  "abstract": "Environmental exposure screening relies on concentration inputs shaped by hierarchical sampling and analytical design. This study investigated how analytical-unit selection and the allocation of replication across a nested soil-sampling hierarchy affect concentration precision, environmental inference, and downstream exposure-screening decisions. We reanalysed a published Leicester/Leicestershire topsoil dataset comprising 26 independent site-level composites, each represented by two physical laboratory samples, with 102 valid analytical determinations overall. Log-scale mixed models quantified variance components for 10 fully detected elements; 500 censor-compatible realisations addressed Cd and Cr; and 10,000 simulations compared reduced analytical designs with the full observed design (R4). Between-composite differences accounted for 65.6-93.8% of log-scale variability, with sensitivity estimates of 87.2% for Cd and 92.3% for Cr. At comparable analytical effort, one determination from each of two physical samples (R3) improved agreement with R4 relative to duplicating one physical sample (R2): median element MdAPE was 1.32% versus 4.27%, mean agreement within ±10% was 96.7% versus 77.5%, and mean rank displacement was 0.47 versus 1.42 positions. Treating the 102 analytical records as independent yielded five FDR-significant urban-rural signals, whereas analyses respecting the 26 independent environmental units yielded none after FDR adjustment. No hazard-index or cancer-risk-band classification switched relative to R4; mean Pb screening-classification switch probabilities were 9.57%, 7.72%, and 0.96% under R1, R2, and R3, respectively. Analytical replication improves measurement precision but does not create environmental replication.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Area of Legal and Forensic Medicine, Department of Surgery, Medical and Social Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Alcalá, Ctra. Madrid-Barcelona, Km 33.6, 28871 Madrid, Spain.",
    "Leicester School of Allied Health Sciences, De Montfort University, Leicester LE1 9BH, UK.",
    "Scientific Computation Research Institute (SCRIUR), University of La Rioja, 26006 Logroño, Spain.",
    "Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Alcalá, Ctra. Madrid-Barcelona, Km 33.6, 28871 Madrid, Spain.",
    "Department of Agri-Environmental Research, Institute for Rural, Agricultural and Food Research and Development (IMIDRA), Finca el Encín, Ctra. Madrid-Barcelona, Km 38.2, 28800 Madrid, Spain."
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 6,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Antonio Peña-Fernández",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-5690-5445"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Tomás Cámara-Pastor",
      "orcid": "0009-0003-3428-7601"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Gurminderjeet S Jagdev"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Borja Martínez-Alonso",
      "orcid": "0009-0002-9124-5507"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Mark D Evans",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-3673-8501"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "M Carmen Lobo-Bedmar"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/fe52hjae8vmt2.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3390/toxics14100887",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "fe52hjae8vmt2",
  "issns": [
    "2305-6304"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42931674",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2310|Heavy metals in environment"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7216042544",
  "pdf_url": null,
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": "42931674",
  "published": "2026-10-02",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/fe52hjae8vmt2.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:22:01Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42931674",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42931674"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "earth",
      "origin": "openalex:2310|Heavy metals in environment",
      "subfield": "environmental-science"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Analytical Replication Improves Precision but Does Not Create Environmental Replication: Hierarchical Uncertainty and Decision Stability in Metal(loid) Soil Exposure Screening.",
  "title_text": "Analytical Replication Improves Precision but Does Not Create Environmental Replication: Hierarchical Uncertainty and Decision Stability in Metal(loid) Soil Exposure Screening.",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:22:01Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/fe52hjae8vmt2",
  "venue": "Toxics",
  "versions": []
}