Source assessment of atmospheric lead measured at Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard

Abstract

Size-segregated (PM10) aerosol samples were collected at Ny-Ålesund (Svalbard Islands, Norwegian Arctic) from April to September 2012 and analysed for lead content and isotopic composition (207Pb/206Pb and 208Pb/206Pb), along with other chemical tracers, such as aluminium (crustal marker) and non-sea-salt sulphates (anthropogenic and marine biogenic marker). It was found that most of lead reaching Ny-Ålesund is anthropogenic, with a marked seasonality of both the concentration and isotopic signature. Particularly, average lead concentration in summer was significantly lower than in spring (p=0.003), whereas 208Pb/206Pb decreased from 2.107±0.002 to 2.090±0.005 (mean±95%-confidence level, p=6.0 10-6). A comparison of the measured isotopic ratios to literature data suggests that the atmospheric lead reaching the Arctic during spring can be mainly related to inputs from eastern Eurasia, whereas North America appeared to be the major source during the summer. Experimental results and sampling strategy also indicate that local inputs of crustal and anthropogenic lead play a minor role. The source-receptor relationship was confirmed by a back-trajectory cluster analysis of air-masses reaching the sampling sit

Sulfate source apportionment in the Ny-Ålesund (Svalbard Islands) Arctic aerosol

“…Since 2010, an Italian infrastructure (Gruvebadet observatory) was installed in Ny-Å lesund (Svalbard Islands), aiming to study the physical and chemical properties of the Arctic aerosol (Viola et al 2013;Udisti et al 2013;Calzolai et al 2014;Moroni et al 2015;Bazzano et al 2015). At the Gruvebadet observatory, aerosol samples were collected in the spring-summer period at different resolution by several sampling devices, including PM 10 samplers and multi-stage impactors.…”

Airborne radionuclides and heavy metals in High Arctic terrestrial environment as the indicators of sources and transfers of contamination

“…The study of aerosols in the Kongsfjorden region recognized the dominance of two sources of Pb. In the spring, isotope signatures of 206 Pb/ 207 Pb of ∼ 1.158 suggest an eastern Eurasian source, while in the summer a signature of 206 Pb/ 207 Pb of ∼ 1.167 suggests a mixture of North Amer- ican and Eurasian influence (Bazzano et al, 2015). Thus, the cryoconite 206 Pb/ 207 Pb ratios compare well with aerosol 206 Pb/ 207 Pb, particularly in the centre part of the glacier.…”

“…The fraction of anthropogenic Pb (Pb ant ) was calculated according to the formula detailed in Zaborska et al (2017). The excess 206 Pb/ 207 Pb ( 206 Pb/ 207 Pb excess ) ratio calculation was used to source Pb pollution (Farmer et al, 1996;Bindler et al, 2001). The quality control and assurance for this method are presented in Zaborska et al (2017).…”

Use of Lead Isotopic Ratios as Geographical Tracer for Lambrusco PDO Wines

“…Therefore, both for soil and wine samples, the end members for the lead presence are more than one; some of them prevail for the wines while others for the soils leading to different values of the IRs as shown in Figure 4. As regards the presence of lead in wine, it is possible to hypothesize a contribute from the production processes in addition to the Pb fraction coming from the waste combustion with deposition of ashes dispersed in the atmospheric aerosol [40].…”