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Coupling Meteorology, Metal Concentrations, and Pb Isotopes for Source Attribution in Archived Precipitation Samples
Citation:
Graney, J. AND M. Landis. Coupling Meteorology, Metal Concentrations, and Pb Isotopes for Source Attribution in Archived Precipitation Samples. SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT. Elsevier BV, AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, 448(3):141-150, (2013).
Impact/Purpose:
The National Exposure Research Laboratory??s (NERL) Human Exposure and Atmospheric Sciences Division (HEASD) conducts research in support of EPA??s mission to protect human health and the environment. HEASD??s research program supports Goal 1 (Clean Air) and Goal 4 (Healthy People) of EPA??s strategic plan. More specifically, our division conducts research to characterize the movement of pollutants from the source to contact with humans. Our multidisciplinary research program produces Methods, Measurements, and Models to identify relationships between and characterize processes that link source emissions, environmental concentrations, human exposures, and target-tissue dose. The impact of these tools is improved regulatory programs and policies for EPA.
Description:
A technique that couples lead (Pb) isotopes and multi-element concentrations with meteorological analysis was used to assess source contributions to precipitation samples at the Bondville, Illinois USA National Trends Network (NTN) site. Precipitation samples collected over a 16 month period (July 1994–October 1995) at Bondville were parsed into six unique meteorological flow regimes using a minimum variance clustering technique on back trajectory endpoints. Pb isotope ratios and multi-element concentrations were measured using high resolution inductively coupled plasma‐sectorfield mass spectrometry (ICP-SFMS) on the archived precipitation samples. Bondville is located in central Illinois, ~250 km downwind from smelters in southeast Missouri. The Mississippi Valley Type ore deposits in Missouri provided a unique multi-element and Pb isotope fingerprint for smelter emissions which could be contrasted to industrial emissions from the Chicago and Indianapolis urban areas (~125 km north and east, of Bondville respectively) and regional emissions from electric utility facilities. Differences in Pb isotopes and element concentrations in precipitation corresponded to flow regime. Industrial sources from urban areas, and thorogenic Pb from coal use, could be differentiated from smelter emissions from Missouri by coupling Pb isotopes with variations in element ratios and relative mass factors. Using a three endmember mixing model based on Pb isotope ratio differences, industrial processes in urban airsheds contributed 56±19%, smelters in southeast Missouri 26±13%, and coal combustion 18±7%, of the Pb in precipitation collected in Bondville in the mid-1990s.
URLs/Downloads:
LANDIS SUPPLEMENTAL TABLE AND FIGURES ORD-000124 JUNE 2012.PDF (PDF, NA pp, 237.058 KB, about PDF)GRANEY LANDIS FINAL FINAL TEXT VERSION ONLY.PDF (PDF, NA pp, 74.467 KB, about PDF)
Science of the Total Environment
