Spatiotemporal trends of atmospheric Pb over the last century across inland China

Abstract

Sedimentary records from remote regions contain pollutants derived dominantly from atmospheric input, and thus have the potential to trace past atmospheric pollution history. Based on seventeen sediment records from relatively remote areas of China, atmospheric Pb pollution history during the last century was studied. These records suggest some slight pollution before ~1950 and display synchronous Pb enrichment processes since the 1950s, implying the start of widespread atmospheric Pb pollution in China. This corresponded well with the beginning of socio-economic development after the establishment of the People's Republic of China. However, owing to the Chinese Cultural Revolution, a roughly unchanged atmospheric Pb status was found in the 1960-70s except on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, where atmospheric Pb still increased gradually caused by long-range atmospheric transport of pollutants from southwest Asia. In ~1980-2000, atmospheric Pb experienced the greatest increase, resulting from rapid development of extensive economy after the Reform and Openingup in 1978. After ~2000, atmospheric Pb generally stopped increasing due to the phasing out of leaded gasoline, but it remained high, with the highest in Southwest China, medium in Northeast China, central North China and the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, and the lowest in the southeast Mongolia Plateau and West China. This study reveals spatio-temporal variations of atmospheric Pb in inland China under the influence of recent human activities, providing an important supplement for understanding global Pb pollution in the Anthropocene.

Uncertainties in Pollution and Risk Assessments of Heavy Metals in Lake Sediments Using Regional Background Soils in China

“…The pollution and ecological risk status/difference of heavy metals between these lakes correspond well with the fact that lake KL received more anthropogenic pollutant emissions than other lakes as it is situated close to (~5 km) a small county (Guyuan) [ 25 ]. In contrast, the other four lakes (i.e., GH, MY, DL, and ZS) are situated relatively far from urban/industrial areas, and thus they receive fewer anthropogenic pollutant emissions [ 23 , 25 ].…”

“…Lakes GH and MY are sub-alpine lakes. They are situated on the remote Lvliang Mountain in Xinzhou City in central Shanxi Province [ 23 , 24 ]. Lakes DL and ZS lie at the north margin area of the E–W trending Hunshandake Desert Land on the southeastern Mongolian Plateau [ 25 ].…”

“…The sediment cores were specifically taken from the lake center areas GH, MY, ZS, and KL with water depths of about ~10 m, ~9 m, 1.8 m, and 4.0 m, respectively, and from a deep water area (approximately 10 m) in lake DL [ 23 ]. Some other details, such as lengths and locations, of the sediment cores can be found in our previous studies [ 23 , 25 , 26 , 27 ]. Once the sediment cores were obtained, they were sectioned at 1.0 cm intervals.…”

“…Specifically, the activities of 210 Pb were measured at 46.5 keV, while those of 137 Cs were at 662 keV. The activities of 226 Ra were detected at 295 keV and 352 keV, and γ-rays were emitted by its daughter isotope, 214 Pb [ 23 , 31 ]. Moreover, chronologies of the sediment cores were determined using the constant rate of 210 Pb ex supply (CRS) model in combination with 137 Cs.…”

Temporal evolution and source apportionment of BC aerosols during autumn in the grassland of Ordos, China

“…In China, numerous in‐depth studies on the characteristics of BC pollution have been carried out in dense urban agglomeration areas such as the North China Plain (NCP) region, the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region, the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region, the Twain‐Hu Basin, and the Sichuan Basin (Chen, Zhao, et al, 2023; Lin et al, 2019; Pei et al, 2022; Wan et al, 2023; Wei et al, 2023; Yang et al, 2022; Yuan et al, 2022; Zhang et al, 2023; Zheng et al, 2022). Yang et al (2022) found that the refractory BC (rBC) core mass size distribution was bimodal, with a small secondary mode at ~687 nm in NCP.…”