title: Tracing lead pollution sources in abandoned mine areas using stable Pb isotope ratios.
abstract: This study focused on Pb isotope ratios of sediments in areas around an abandoned mine to determine if the ratios can be used as a source tracer. For pretreatment, sediment samples were dissolved with mixed acids, and a multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (MC-ICP-MS, Nu plasma II) was used to investigate the Pb isotopic composition of the samples. The measured isotope ratios were then corrected for instrumental mass fractionation by measuring the (203)Tl/(205)Tl ratio. Repeated measurements with the NIST SRM 981 reference material showed that the precision of all ratios was below 104 ppm (±2σ) for 50 ng/g. The isotope ratios ((207)Pb/(206)Pb) found were 0.85073 ± 0.0004~0.85373 ± 0.0003 for the main stream, while they were 0.83736 ± 0.0010 for the tributary and 0.84393 ± 0.0002 for the confluence. A binary mixing equation for isotope ratios showed that the contributions of mine lead to neighboring areas were up to 60%. Therefore, Pb isotope ratios can be a good source tracer for areas around abandoned mines.
authors.affiliation: Environmental Measurement & Analysis Center, Department of Environmental Infrastructure Research, National Institute of Environmental Research, Environmental Research Complex, Kyungseo-dong, Seo-gu, Incheon, 404-708, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Eun-Jin
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Yoo
authors.forename: Jung-A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Jae-Seon
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Khanghyun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Won-Seok
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Jin-Seok
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Jong-Woo
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Choi
mesh_terms: D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D004787:Environmental Pollution / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007554:Isotopes / Q000032:analysis; D007854:Lead / Q000032:analysis*; D008906:Mining; D056910:Republic of Korea; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D007554:Isotopes; D012989:Soil Pollutants; D007854:Lead