European isotopic signatures for lead in atmospheric aerosols:: a source apportionment based upon 206Pb /207Pb ratios

To investigate the capability of the lead isotope signature technique to support a source apportionment study at a Continental scale, atmospheric particulate matter was collected at Cap Gris-Nez (Eastern Channel, northern France), over one year (1995-1996). Four days retrospective trajectories of air masses were available during each sampling experiment. Twenty-eight samples, for which the origin of aerosols was unambiguously determined, were selected for isotopic measurements. Considering the Enrichment Factors, EFcrust of lead and its size distribution, we show that lead is mostly from anthropogenic origin and mainly associated with [0.4 < diameter < 0.9 mum] particles. The extent to which various Continental sources influence the lead abundance in aerosols is exhibited by considering both the lead concentration and the origin of air mashes. Lead concentration is higher by a factor of approximately seven, when air masses are derived from Continental Europe, by comparison with marine air masses. Taking into account these concentrations and the vertical movements of air masses, we compare the different isotopic compositions using a statistical non-parametric test (Kolmogorov-Smirnov). We produce evidence that, for most of the cases, air masses originating from Continental Europe exhibit a more radiogenic composition (1.134 < Pb-206/(207) Pb < 1.172) than air masses coming from the United Kingdom (1.106 < Pb-206/Pb-207 < 1.124). Generally, lead isotopic compositions in aerosols are clearly distinct from the gasoline signatures in European countries, strongly suggesting that automotive lead is no longer the major component of this metal in the air. Gasoline and industrial isotopic signatures could explain the origin of lead in our aerosol samples. A source apportionment based upon Pb-206/Pb-207 ratios, suggests that the difference between British (Pb-206/Pb-207=1.122+/-0.038) and Continental (Pb-206/Pb-207 = 1.155+/-0.022) signatures may be largely explained by differences in the petrol lead content of aerosols (23-62% in Great Britain vs. 10-36% in Continental Europe). (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.