Lead isotope geochemistry of the urban environment in the Pearl River Delta

The study of the Pb isotopic and elemental composition of eolian dusts, aer osols and soils collected from urban areas in the Pearl River Delta, China, indicates that the atmospheric Pb pollution originates from automobile exh austs and industry. The Pb isotopes allow distinguishing between Pb from th e natural background, automobile exhausts, and industrial pollution. The Pb isotopes show that the air-carried Ph pollution in Guangzhou and Foshan is a mixture of industrial Pb from the Fankou Pb-Zn giant deposit and automob ile exhaust, whereas the pollution in Foshan is mainly from industry. The c hemical compositions show that aerosols possess features of Volcanic ash, a nd eolian dusts are mixtures of aluminosilicates-sulfides. (C) 2001 Elsevie r Science Ltd. All rights reserved.