Particulate Pb, 210Pb and 210Po in the Environment

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Abstract
Particulate Pb, 210Pb and 210Po were measured in a Pacific Ocean depth profile 350 miles west of Newport, Oregon and in Atlantic Ocean surface samples collected at various locations between the Bahama Islands and Sierra Leone, Africa. The specific activity of 210Pb in the Pacific Ocean increased with depth mainly due to the rapidly decreasing concentrations of stable Pb with depth. Stable Pb deposited in the Pacific Ocean area represented atmospheric fallout over a period of about 27 yr. In the Atlantic Ocean the average particulate 210Po concentration was 20% higher than the average 210Pb concentration yet both isotopes were about one-tenth their radio-equilibrium concentrations from 226Ra. The particulate stable Pb concentration in the Atlantic Ocean decreased ninefold (2.23 ± 0.02 to 0.25 ± 0.03 μg/l) from 25°38'N. Lat., 72°20'W. Long. to 24°48'N. Lat., 59°20'W. Long. The stable lead concentrations in the Atlantic Ocean are from United States vehicular and industrial sources which are transported to the marine environs by atmospheric processes. Particulate 210Pb and stable lead concentrations (0.006 dis/min/m3 and 0.0004 μg/m3, respectively) were measured in rural terrestrial air near 46°34'N. Lat., 119°35'W. Long. for comparison to the marine environment. Although it is not yet possible to accurately define the transport mechanisms of particulate lead in seawater, the concentrations are known to vary with location and are probably increasing yearly as industrial and internal combustion engine emissions increase.

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