A comparison has been made of eight acid extraction systems prior to the atomic absorption analysis of lead, nickel, copper, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, zinc, arsenic and mercury in street dust samples. Statistical treatment of the results enabled a valid comparison to be made in terms of overall extraction efficiency. For the purposes of carrying out large scale environmental surveys it was found that extraction with dilute nitric acid was the most suitable method. Analysis of the extracts by atomic absorption spectroscopy was shown to permit the accumulation of reliable data with the minimum requirement of apparatus and time.

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Within the knowledge exchange literature, there is growing recognition of the role that students have in contributing to knowledge exchange through university-based programmes. To add to this growing, but embryonic, knowledge base, this paper brings together reflections of policy engagement facilitators delivering an optional, online policy training course at UCL (University College London) and the University of Manchester, UK. Known as the Policy Boot Camp, it involved fifty policy professionals, from the civil service, think tanks, local government and the third sector, and three hundred students from undergraduate and master’s degree courses. We reflect on how we drew on the principles of andragogy to create our knowledge exchange programme, so that it was problem-focused, student-led, and interactive and collaborative in nature. We discuss if an intervention such as this can be a route to support more collaborative and fluid policymaking processes. Although our conclusions from this small-scale programme are tentative, we sketch out directions for future research that could contribute to evidencing the potential benefits of courses such as this.