Sources of Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb in rainwater at a subtropical islet offshore northern Taiwan

Abstract

Abstract Pollutants derived from long-range transport and local emission impact significantly of heavy metal compositions in rainwater and aerosols. To identify their sources and relative contributions in rainwater, 47 monthly rainwater samples from January 1998 to December 2001, collected at Peng Chia Yu (PCY), a non-residential islet offshore Taiwan, were analyzed for heavy metals (i.e. Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb) and Pb isotopic compositions. The dissolved metals concentrations of Al, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Rb, Ba, and Pb in PCY rains are high in spring and winter, but low in summer. This can be understood in terms of pollutant source changes due to wind direction shifted seasonally. The average EFcrust and EFseawater values calculated for Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb are far greater than 1500, suggesting their strong anthropogenic sources, also supported by the PCA results. The pollutants derived from long-range transport are the predominated heavy metals sources during the winter monsoon season, whereas local traffic emissions play the most important role during the summer monsoon period. Unique Pb isotopic fingerprints, similar to those of iron ore sinter dusts and oil combustion dusts from Shanghai and the traffic emissions from Taiwan were identified in PCY rainwater. A mixing model based on three typical end-member Pb isotopic compositions derived from Taiwan and China was applied to evaluate the pollutant sources variations.