Three centuries of heavy metal pollution in Paris (France) recorded by urban speleothems

The Science of the Total Environment
Edwige Pons-BranchuEmmanuel Dumont

Abstract

The first record of urban speleothems used to reconstruct the history of heavy metal pollution of shallow groundwaters is presented. Two speleothems grew during the last 300 years in an underground aqueduct in the north-eastern part of Paris. They display high Pb, Mn V, Cu, Cd and Al concentrations since 1900 due to the urbanization of the site which triggered anthropogenic contamination of the water feeding the speleothems. Surprisingly, these heavy metal concentrations are also high in the oldest part. This early pollution could come from the use of Parisian waste as fertilizers in the orchards and vineyards cultivated above the aqueduct before urbanization. Lead isotopes were measured in these carbonates as well as in lead artifacts from the 17th-18th centuries ((206)Pb/(207)Pb=1.180+/-0.003). The mean (206)Pb/(207)Pb ratio, for one of the speleothems is 1.181+/-0.003 unvarying with time. These lead signatures are close to those of coal and old lead from northern European mines, lower than the natural background signature. It confirms that the high metal concentrations found come from anthropogenic pollution. Conversely, the lead isotopic composition of the second speleothem presents two temporal trends: for the oldest level...Continue Reading

References

Mar 30, 2004·Environmental Science & Technology·R M SemlaliF van Oort
Feb 28, 2006·Isotopes in Environmental and Health Studies·David Widory
May 19, 2006·Journal of Hazardous Materials·Perrine ChaurandJean-Yves Bottero
Feb 3, 2007·The Science of the Total Environment·Daniel R ThévenotMichel Meybeck
Nov 16, 2013·Environmental Science and Pollution Research International·S AyraultM Roy-Barman

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Citations

Apr 6, 2017·Scientific Reports·Gurinder NagraAndy Baker
Sep 28, 2018·Journal of Environmental Health Science & Engineering·Nazhmetdinova AimanMagai Alena
Feb 9, 2021·Environmental Geochemistry and Health·Matheus da Silva FerreiraHedinaldo Narciso Lima
Aug 22, 2021·Journal of Hazardous Materials·Jia-Lan WangMarc F Benedetti
Oct 8, 2021·Environmental Geochemistry and Health·Dominique SerraniPaola Adamo

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