Trends of lead in atmospheric air

Abstract

In the article, trends of lead content in atmospheric air of background territories and cities of Belarus according to NSEM data and their correlation with trends of lead content in the atmospheric air of cities and background territories of Europe and the USA are analyzed. Clear downward trends in lead content in the atmospheric air of the background territories of Belarus are shown: the average annual concentration of lead has decreased over the period from 1990 to 2015 by 77 %. According to EMEP stations measuring data having a continuous series of lead observations in atmospheric air since 1990, the mean annual lead content in atmospheric air at these stations decreased till 2013 on average by 86 %. A downward trend in the lead content was observed in the air of Belarusian cities and of some countries of Europe. The most significant decrease in lead content occurred in the USA, where the average annual maximum 3-month concentration decreased from 1990 to 2016 by 99 %. The relationship between trends in lead levels with trends of anthropogenic emissions is analyzed. Differences between the measured lead concentrations and calculated values by dispersion models are shown, which may be due to the incompleteness of the inventory of lead emissions in a number of countries, as well as the significant contribution of other sources of emission in addition to anthropogenic sources of lead emission into the atmosphere. To identify the reasons for these discrepancies, which may be related to the presence of unrecorded anthropogenic sources, secondary and natural sources, and other factors, additional research is needed.