CHANGES IN THE LEAD CONTENT OF ATMOSPHERIC AEROSOLS ABOVE THE EASTERNCHANNEL BETWEEN 1982 83 AND 1994/

Citation
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
Citations number
38
Categorie Soggetti
Environmental Sciences
ISSN journal
00489697
Volume
192
Issue
2
Year of publication
1996
Pages
193 - 206
Database
ISI
SICI code
0048-9697(1996)192:2<193:CITLCO>2.0.ZU;2-A
Abstract
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%.