Quantifying Diffuse Contamination: Method and Application to Pb in Soil
Date
2017-04-28
Authors
Fabian, Karl
Reimann, C.
de Caritat, Patrice
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
American Chemical Society
Abstract
A new method for detecting and quantifying diffuse contamination at the continental to regional scale is based on the, analysis of cumulative,distribution functions (CDFs). It uses cumulative probability (CP) plots for spatially representative data sets, preferably containing >1000 determinations. Simulations demonstrate how different types of contamination influence elemental CDFs of different sample media. It is found that diffuse contamination is characterized by a distinctive shift of the low-concentration end of the distribution of the studied element in its CP plot. Diffuse contamination can be detected and quantified via either (1) comparing the distribution of the contaminating element to that of an element with a geochemically comparable behavior but no contamination source (e.g., Pb vs Rb), or (2) comparing the top soil distribution of an element to the distribution of the same element in subsoil samples from the same area, taking soil forming processes into consideration. Both procedures are demonstrated for geochemical soil data sets from Europe, Australia, and the U.S.A. Several different data sets from Europe deliver comparable results at different scales. Diffuse Pb contamination in surface soil is estimated to be <0.5 mg/kg for Australia, 1-3 mg/kg for Europe, and 1-2 mg/kg, or at least <5 mg/kg, for the U.S.A. The analysis presented here also allows recognition of local contamination sources and can be used to efficiently monitor diffuse contamination at the continental to regional scale.
Description
Keywords
Elements, Soils, Chromatography, Contamination, Deposition
Citation
Collections
Source
Environmental Science and Technology
Type
Journal article
Book Title
Entity type
Access Statement
Open Access
License Rights
This is an open access article published under an ACS AuthorChoice License, which permits copying and redistribution of the article or any adaptations for non-commercial purposes.
DOI
10.1021/acs.est.7b00741