ORGANOLEAD COMPOUNDS IN ARCHIVES OF ENVIRONMENTAL-POLLUTION

The use of organolead compounds as specific tracers of present and pas t automotive pollution is discussed. Advantages and limitations of pol ar snow and old wine vintages as archives of environmental pollution a re characterized. Trace and ultratrace analytical chemistry of organol ead in atmospheric deposits from the remote environment and wine is br iefly surveyed. Automotive contamination of vineyards is investigated with the example of Cotes du Rhone wines. Long-range transport of orga nolead compounds to polar environments is discussed in terms of source , atmospheric conditions and air mass trajectories. The history of loc al and global automotive pollution by organolead is studied with the e xample of old wine vintages and deep snow cores, respectively, and cor related with the rise and fall of the consumption of leaded petrol.