Stable Lead Isotope Compositions In Selected Coals From Around The World And Implications For Present Day Aerosol Source Tracing

2009 
The phasing out of leaded gasoline in many countries around the world at the end of the last millennium has resulted in a complex mixture of lead sources in the atmosphere. Recent studies suggest that coal combustion has become an important source of Pb in aerosols in urban and remote areas. Here, we report lead concentration and isotopic composition for 59 coal samples representing major coal deposits worldwide in an attempt to characterize this potential source. The average concentration in these coals is 35 μg Pb g−1, with the highest values in coals from Spain and Peru and the lowest in coals from Australia and North America. The 206Pb/207Pb isotope ratios range between 1.15 and 1.24, with less radiogenic Pb in coals from Europe and Asia compared to South and North America. Comparing the Pb isotopic signatures of coals from this and previous studies with those published for Northern and Southern Hemisphere aerosols, we hypothesize that coal combustion might now be an important Pb source in China, the ...
    • Correction
    • Source
    • Cite
    • Save
    • Machine Reading By IdeaReader
    42
    References
    131
    Citations
    NaN
    KQI
    []