Spatiotemporal trends of atmospheric Pb over the last century across inland China

Dejun Wan; Handong Yang; Zhangdong Jin; Bin Xue; Lei Song; Xin Mao; Jinsong Yang

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138399

Spatiotemporal trends of atmospheric Pb over the last century across inland China

Sci Total Environ. 2020 Aug 10:729:138399. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138399. Epub 2020 Apr 23.

Authors

Dejun Wan¹, Handong Yang², Zhangdong Jin³, Bin Xue⁴, Lei Song⁵, Xin Mao⁵, Jinsong Yang⁵

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Hydrogeology and Environmental Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Shijiazhuang 050061, China; Key Laboratory of Quaternary Chronology and Hydro-environmental Evolution, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Shijiazhuang 050061, China; State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an 710075, China. Electronic address: wandejun@mail.cgs.gov.cn.
² Environmental Change Research Centre, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
³ State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an 710075, China; Institute of Global Environmental Change, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China.
⁵ Institute of Hydrogeology and Environmental Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Shijiazhuang 050061, China; Key Laboratory of Quaternary Chronology and Hydro-environmental Evolution, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Shijiazhuang 050061, China.

PMID: 32498150
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138399

Abstract

Sedimentary records from remote regions contain pollutants derived dominantly from atmospheric input, and thus have the potential to trace past atmospheric pollution history. Based on seventeen sediment records from relatively remote areas of China, atmospheric Pb pollution history during the last century was studied. These records suggest only occasionally slight pollution before ~1950 and display synchronous Pb enrichment processes since the 1950s, implying the start of widespread atmospheric Pb pollution in China. This corresponded well with the beginning of socio-economic development after the establishment of the People's Republic of China. However, owing to the Chinese Cultural Revolution, a roughly unchanged atmospheric Pb status was found in the 1960-70s except on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, where atmospheric Pb still increased gradually caused by long-range atmospheric transport of pollutants from southwest Asia. In ~1980-2000, atmospheric Pb experienced the greatest increase, resulting from rapid development of extensive economy after the Reform and Opening-up in 1978. After ~2000, atmospheric Pb generally stopped increase due to the phasing out of leaded gasoline, but it remained high, with the highest in Southwest China, medium in Northeast China, central North China and the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, and the lowest in the southeast Mongolia Plateau and West China. This study reveals spatio-temporal variations of atmospheric Pb in inland China under the influence of recent human activities, providing an important supplement for understanding global Pb pollution in the Anthropocene.

Keywords: Anthropocene; Atmospheric pollution; Heavy metal; Historical record; Lead isotope; Sediment core.