P. Flament et al., CHANGES IN THE LEAD CONTENT OF ATMOSPHERIC AEROSOLS ABOVE THE EASTERNCHANNEL BETWEEN 1982 83 AND 1994/, Science of the total environment, 192(2), 1996, pp. 193-206
Lead concentrations in atmospheric particulate matter, along the south
ern coast of the Strait of Dover have been measured during two samplin
g campaigns, over a 10 year period. The results point out that lead co
ncentrations have been decreased by a factor of two, from 1982/83 to 1
994. This evolution is in good agreement with a general trend to the d
iminution of lead in atmospheric aerosols above the Eastern Channel an
d the Southern Eight of the North Sea. It appears that, from 1972 to 1
994, lead concentrations have decreased by an order of magnitude, desp
ite the uncertainty of the oldest values. As established in a similar
coastal environment, this decrease in the lead concentrations can be e
xplained by the reduction in the emissions of automotive lead. The evo
lution of the mass-size distribution is consistent with this last fact
or; assuming that automotive lead is essentially present in particles
smaller than 0.33 mu m, the observed decrease of this granulometric cl
ass between 1983 and 1994 (7 ng/m(3)) is close to the measured decreas
e in the lead concentrations (9 ng/m(3)). A slight decrease (14%) of t
he related dry deposition flux has been calculated for the same period
. But, if part of the fall-out due to particles larger than 1 mu m is
approximately constant over the same period (about 430 g/km(2) per yea
r), the submicronic flux exhibits a decrease of 70%.