Concentrations and isotopic analysis for the sources and transfer of lead in an urban atmosphere-plant-soil system

Ling Cong; Shijun Zhou; Dev Niyogi; Yanan Wu; Guoxin Yan; Liyi Dai; Songyang Liu; Zhenming Zhang; Yuanhui Hu

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.114771

Concentrations and isotopic analysis for the sources and transfer of lead in an urban atmosphere-plant-soil system

J Environ Manage. 2022 Mar 3:311:114771. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.114771. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Ling Cong¹, Shijun Zhou¹, Dev Niyogi², Yanan Wu¹, Guoxin Yan¹, Liyi Dai¹, Songyang Liu³, Zhenming Zhang⁴, Yuanhui Hu⁵

Affiliations

¹ College of Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, 100083, China; The Key Laboratory of Ecological Protection in the Yellow River Basin of National Forestry and Grassland Administration, Beijing, 100083, China.
² Department of Agronomy and Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA; Department of Geological Sciences, Jackson School of Geosciences, And Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, USA.
³ Xi 'an International Port Park City Appearance Garden and Ecological Environment Bureau, Xi'an, 610026, China.
⁴ College of Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, 100083, China; The Key Laboratory of Ecological Protection in the Yellow River Basin of National Forestry and Grassland Administration, Beijing, 100083, China. Electronic address: Zhenmingzhang@bjfu.edu.cn.
⁵ Department of International Cooperation and International Cooperation Project Center, National Forestry and Grass Administration, Beijing, 100714, China. Electronic address: huyuanhui@hotmail.com.

PMID: 35248929
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.114771

Abstract

Lead pollution has attracted significant attention over the years. However, research on the transfer of lead between urban atmospheric particles, soils, and plants remains rare. We measured lead concentrations and lead isotope ratios in total suspended particles (TSP), soil, and plants in an urban wetland in Beijing. The study period was September 2016-August 2017- covering all four seasons. The concentrations of lead in the atmospheric particles vary from 3.13 to 6.68 mg/m³. It is significantly higher in autumn than that in spring and summer (P < 0.05). There is also a significant difference between summer and winter (P < 0.05). The soil lead concentrations range from 57 to 114 mg/kg, with the highest concentration in spring, followed by summer, winter and autumn. The lead concentrations are 1.28-7.75 mg/kg in plants. The concentration was highest in spring and significantly higher than in summer. The bioaccumulation factor of Phragmites australis was 0.064 (<0.1), indicating that lead is not easily transferred to plants. Unlike the bioaccumulation factors, translocation factors have much higher values, indicating a higher transfer within the plants. Results also indicate an interesting seasonal pattern with almost 97% of lead in plants during spring being of atmospheric origin, whereas in autumn, soilborne sources contribute almost 94%. The isotopic compositions of lead in the urban atmosphere-soil-plant system show that lead pollution results from the mixing of geogenic and anthropogenic materials. Vehicle exhaust, crustal rocks and ore deposits are likely primary sources of lead pollution within the study domain.

Keywords: Lead isotope; Lead pollution; Plant; Soil; Total suspended particles.