A dynamic analysis of environmental losses from anthropogenic lead flow and their accumulation in China

Substance flow analysis was applied to analyzing the lead emissions in 2010. It turns out that in 2010, for every 1 kg of lead consumed, 0.48 kg lead is lost into the environment. The emissions in 2010 were estimated to be 1.89×106 t, which were mainly from use (39.20%) and waste management & recycling (33.13%). The accumulative lead in 1960-2010 from the anthropogenic flow was estimated and the results show that the total accumulative lead in this period amounted to 19.54×106 t, which was equivalent to 14.26 kg and 2.04 g/m2 at the present population and territory.