Tuccillo Mary Ellen, Blue Julie, Koplos Jonathan, Kelly Jack, Wilkin Richard T
ERG, 561 Virginia Rd., Suite 300, Building 4, Concord, MA 01742, USA.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 3, Four Penn Center 1600 John F. Kennedy Boulevard, Philadelphia, PA 19103, USA.
Heliyon. 2023 Apr 21;9(5):e15666. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e15666. eCollection 2023 May.
Globally, lead (Pb) contamination is one of the top ten chemical exposure issues affecting public health. The identification of specific Pb sources provides valuable information to determine assignment of liability for site cleanup, improve sampling plans and develop remedial strategies. This paper examines Pb concentrations and Pb isotopic data from samples collected at and near the site of a Pb paint production facility with a long operating history. Although high soil Pb concentrations were found at the site, Pb concentrations in surrounding neighborhoods did not simply decline with distance from the site. We evaluated soil concentrations and isotopic mixing lines to explore potential sources of Pb pollution. Three-isotope plots showed overlap of site samples and the surrounding neighborhood, consistent with pollution from the facility affecting offsite soils. A major challenge in separation of potential sources, however, is that the isotopic signatures of other potential Pb sources fall within the range of the soil data. The long operational site history, soil disturbances, the presence of nearby smelters, and other local and remote sources affect identification of lead sources. This analysis demonstrates that source attribution can be confounded by incomplete site and material sourcing information. An integrated approach that includes in-depth site characterization and an evaluation of historical activities (e.g., Pb ores used over time, amounts of Pb emitted by all area smelters, land use changes, and soil disturbances) is important for determining source attribution. This analysis provides insight into future site investigations where soil lead contamination has resulted from a long industrial history in an urban setting.
在全球范围内，铅（Pb）污染是影响公众健康的十大化学暴露问题之一。确定特定的铅源可为确定场地清理责任归属、改进采样计划以及制定补救策略提供有价值的信息。本文研究了来自一家拥有悠久运营历史的铅漆生产设施场地及周边采集样本中的铅浓度和铅同位素数据。尽管在该场地发现土壤铅浓度很高，但周边社区的铅浓度并非简单地随与场地距离的增加而下降。我们评估了土壤浓度和同位素混合线，以探索铅污染的潜在来源。三同位素图显示场地样本与周边社区存在重叠，这与该设施的污染影响场外土壤一致。然而分离潜在来源的一个主要挑战是，其他潜在铅源的同位素特征落在土壤数据范围内。该场地悠久的运营历史、土壤扰动、附近冶炼厂的存在以及其他本地和远程来源影响了铅源的识别。该分析表明，源归因可能会因场地和物质来源信息不完整而混淆。一种综合方法，包括深入的场地特征描述以及对历史活动的评估（例如，长期使用的铅矿石、所有区域冶炼厂排放的铅量、土地利用变化和土壤扰动）对于确定源归因很重要。该分析为未来城市环境中因长期工业历史导致土壤铅污染的场地调查提供了见解。
