Source assessment of atmospheric lead measured at Ny-Alesund, Svalbard

Size-segregated (PM10) aerosol samples were collected at Ny-Alesund (Svalbard Islands, Norwegian Arctic) from April to September 2012 and analysed for lead content and isotopic composition ((207)pb/(206)pb and Pb-208/Pb-206), along with other chemical tracers, such as aluminium (crustal marker) and non-sea-salt sulphates (anthropogenic and marine biogenic marker). It was found that most of lead reaching Ny-Alesund is anthropogenic, with a marked seasonality of both the concentration and isotopic signature. Particularly, average lead concentration in summer was significantly lower than in spring (p = 0.003), whereas Pb-208/Pb-206 decreased from 2.107 +/- 0.002 to 2.090 +/- 0.005 (mean +/- 95%-confidence level, p = 6.0 10(-6)). A comparison of the measured isotopic ratios to literature data suggests that the atmospheric lead reaching the Arctic during spring can be mainly related to inputs from eastern Eurasia, whereas North America appeared to be the major source during the summer. Experimental results and sampling strategy also indicate that local inputs of crustal and anthropogenic lead play a minor role. The source-receptor relationship was confirmed by a back-trajectory cluster analysis of air-masses reaching the sampling site. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.