Lead contamination of the Seine River, France: Geochemical implications of a historical perspective

Abstract

Four sediment cores collected in the Seine River basin and dated between 1916 and 2003 were analyzed for lead concentrations and isotopic composition. In all four cores, the measured Pb concentration (up to 460 mg kg(-1)) lies significantly above the natural background (27-40 mg kg(-1)), although a significant decrease (down to 75 mg kg(-1)) was observed during the second half of the 20th century which can be explained by the reduction of lead emissions. The (206)Pb/(207)Pb ratio measured in these samples indicates that the main source of Pb used in the Paris conurbation is characterized by a "Rio Tinto" signature (defined as (206)Pb/(207)Pb=1.1634 ± 0.0001). A high contribution, up to 25%, from the leaded gasoline (characterized by (206)Pb/(207)Pb=1.08 ± 0.02) is revealed in the Seine River downstream Paris, indicating that lead from the leaded gasoline is preferentially released to the river. The dominating Pb signature in the Paris conurbation that is currently sampled through incinerators fumes ((206)Pb/(207)Pb=1.1550 ± 0.0005) and waste water treatment plant ((206)Pb/(207)Pb=1.154 ± 0.002), represents a mixture of highly recycled lead from the Rio Tinto mine and lead from leaded gasoline (imprinted by the low (206)Pb/(207)Pb of the Broken Hill mine). This signature is called "urban" rather than "industrial", because it is clearly distinct from the Pb that is found in areas contaminated by heavy industry, i.e. the heavy industries located on the Oise River which used lead from European ores characterized by high (206)Pb/(207)Pb ratios (~1.18-1.19) and possibly a minor amount of North American lead ((206)Pb/(207)Pb ratios>1.20). The "urban" signature is also found in a rural area upstream of Paris in the 1970's. At the Seine River mouth in 2003, Pb with an urban signature represents 70% of the total Pb sediment content, with the 30% remaining corresponding to natural Pb.

Application of lead isotopic methods to the study of the anthropogenic lead provenance in Spanish overbank floodplain deposits

“…Monna et al (2000) studied Pb isotopes in the overbank sediments from the Northern Harz province, where they could detect the pollution from mining and smelting activities. But it is relatively recently that Pb isotopes have been applied as a method for provenancing the origin of Pb in riverine environments (Cheng and Hu 2010;Bird 2011;Ayrault et al 2012;Miller 2013 and others). Overbank sediments can come from a wide variety of sources within a basin.…”

Lead Pollution Remanence in an Urban River System: A multi-scale temporal and spatial study

“…Indeed, the 2010/2011 SPM samples ( 206 Pb/ 207 Pb =1.165±0.008, n=28) were close to the signature determined for the Rio Tinto ores ( 206 Pb/ 207 Pb =1.163±0.002) whatever the sampling site and the hydrological conditions. Indeed, the Rio Tinto ore signature may be the best source estimation for Pb that accumulated over centuries in the Seine River basin and may be called "historical" Parisian lead (Ayrault et al, 2012 Elbaz-Poulichet et al (1986) for the whole Seine River basin. Alternatively, it might represent a pervasive contamination by the anthropogenic Pb.…”

“…Endmembers used in this study for lead 206 Pb/ 207 Pb isotopic ratios were constructed according to Elbaz-Poulichet et al (1986) for the natural lead background of Paris region (1.2007 ± 0.0011), to Véron et al (1999) for gasoline lead (1.08 ± 0.02), and to Ayrault et al (2012) for urban lead in the Paris watershed (1.154 ± 0.002).…”

Street Dust: Source and Sink of Heavy Metals To Urban Environment

“…The trace and major element content was determined by inductively coupled plasma -mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) after total digestion. Lead isotope ratios ( 206 Pb/ 207 Pb) were measured in the digestion solutions that were also used for elemental concentration determinations, after appropriate dilution, using a ICP-QMS (Ayrault et al, 2012). Sample characterisation was performed using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), allowing a spatial resolution down to 1.0 nm, coupled to an Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) microanalysis system.…”