Abstract
By combining scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image analysis and laser ablation plasma ionisation multi-collector mass spectrometry (LA-PIMMS), high precision lead isotope analyses can be obtained from individual metal-rich particles. Soils from Wolverhampton and Nottingham were sampled on the basis of high Pb concentrations or brownfield location. Pressed powder pellets of each were rastered by LA-PIMMS to obtain a bulk Pb-isotope signature. The results plot along an apparent mixing line between the major sources of lead contamination in the UK, that is UK ore deposits and alkyl-lead from petrol additives (Australian ore). Two particularly lead-rich soils were chosen to investigate the lead distribution and isotope variability between size and density fractions. The fine-grained and low-density fractions contained most of the lead and have Pb-isotope ratios comparable with the bulk soils. By contrast, the small, lead-enriched denser fractions contained only a minor proportion of the total lead but Pb-isotope signatures indicating relative enrichment in one or other of the end-members from the mixing line. Further characterisation of individual Pb-rich grains is in progress.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Arrouays, D., Mench, M., Amans, V. and Gomez, A.: 1996, Short-range variability of fallout Pb in a contaminated soil, Canadian Journal of Soil Science 76, 73-81.
Bacon, J.R., Jones, K.C., McGrath, S.P. and Johnston, A.E.: 1996, Isotopic character of lead deposited from the atmosphere at a grassland site in the United Kingdom since 1860, Environmental Science and Technology 30, 2511-2518.
Bridge, D.M., Brown, M.J. and Hooker, P.J.: 1997, Wolverhampton urban environmental survey: and integrated geoscientific case study, British Geological Survey, Technical Report WE/95/49.
Chenery, S.R.N. and Nowell, G.: 1999, Laser ablation ICP/MS: opportunities in geological and environmental applications using multi-collector and multi-pole instruments, Federation of Analytical and Chemical Scientific Societies, Vancouver, Canada, Programme and Abstracts, p. 32.
Croudace, I.W. and Cundy, A.B.: 1995, Heavy metal and hydrocarbon pollution in recent sediments from Southampton Water, Southern England: a geochemical and isotopic study, Environmental Science and Technology 29, 1288-1296.
Delves, H.T.: 1988, Biomedical applications of ICP-MS, Chemistry in Britain 24, 1009-1012.
Farmer, J.G., Eades, L.J., Graham, M.C. and Bacon, J.R.: 2000, The changing nature of the 206Pb/207Pb isotopic ratios of lead in rainwater, atmospheric particulates, pine needles and leaded petrol in Scotland, 1982-1998, Journal of Environmental Monitoring 2, 49-57.
Ferguson, A.J., Breward, N. and Cauldwell, C.L.: 1999, Baseline geochemical maps of part of the Nottingham urban area, NERC URGENT Programme, British Geological Survey, Technical Report WP/99/14.
Hafen, M.R. and Brinkmann, R.: 1997, Analysis of lead in soils adjacent to an interstate highway in Tampa, Florida, Environmental Geochemistry and Health 18, 171-179.
Halliday, A.N., Lee, D.-C., Christensen, J.N., Rehkamper, M., Yi, W., Luo, X., Hall, C.M. Ballentine, C.J., Pettke, T. and Stirling, C.: 1998, Applications of multiple collector-ICPMS to cosmochemistry, geochemistry, and palaeoceanography, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 62, 919-940.
Kempton, P.D.: 1995, Common Pb chemical procedures for silicate rocks and minerals, methods of data correction and an assessment of data quality at the NERC Isotope Geosciences Laboratory, NERC Isotope Geosciences Laboratory, Report Series 78.
Lin, Z.X., Harsbo, K., Ahlgren, M. and Qvarfort, U.: 1998, The source and fate of Pb in contaminated soils at the urban area of Falun in central Sweden, Science of the Total Environment 209, 47-58.
Sugden, C.L., Farmer, J.G. and MacKenzie, A.B.: 1993, Isotopic ratios of lead in contemporary environmental material from Scotland, Environmental Geochemistry and Health 15, 59-74.
Zupancic, N.: 1999, Lead contamination in the roadside soils of Slovenia, Environmental Geochemistry and Health 21, 37-50.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
McGill, R., Pearce, J., Fortey, N. et al. Contaminant Source Apportionment by Pimms Lead Isotope Analysis and Sem-Image Analysis. Environmental Geochemistry and Health 25, 25–32 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021269419788
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021269419788