Are coarse particles unexpected common reservoirs for some atmospheric anthropogenic trace elements? A case study

• An alveolar outdoor wall accumulated atmospheric particles for 40 years.
• Large organic fragments, sand, organo-clay fraction and solutes were separated.
• Very high concentrations of Cu, Pb and Fe were found in the sand fraction.
• The 206Pb/207Pb ratio in the coarse faction had a noticeable contribution from leaded gasoline.
• Long-term accumulation of Pb is a chronic pressure on urban environments.

Without specific experimental equipment, it is very difficult to sample long-term atmospheric deposits on a pure state. That is why the composition of air-transferred solid material accumulated for 40 years in the 2 m-high walls, pierced with numerous holes of an outdoor public shelter, Grenoble city, France, was studied. An appropriate fractionation procedure allowed to obtain several fractions which were i) a sand fraction (8.3%) (fraction A), ii) a large mass of organic matter corresponding mostly to large fragments (>250 μm) of plant origin (66.7%) (fraction B) or to pollen fraction C (0.4%), iii) a slowly depositing organo-clay fraction (20%) (fractions D1 and D2) and iv) a solution mixed with non-settable particles (4.3%) (fraction E). The composition of each fraction was determined for 20 elements. The sand fraction showed very high concentrations specifically in Cu, Pb and Fe corresponding respectively to 81.5, 48.2 and 35.2% of the samples content in these elements. In contrast, Cd and Zn were mainly accumulated in the fraction B (67.5 and 62.2%, respectively). The scanning electron microscopy coupled to energy dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM-EDX) study of the fraction A showed the presence of large particles bearing Pb and Fe, particles rich in Cu and typical fly ashes originating mostly from iron industry. Most of these particles had a crystalline shape suggesting that they were formed after emission at a high temperature. The Pb–Fe–Cu deposit seen in fraction A likely originates from the neighbouring road surface contaminated by car traffic for several decades. The 206Pb/207Pb ratio (1.146 ± 0.004) showed that in the coarse sandy fraction A, Pb was represented at 65% by non-gasoline lead and 35% by “gasoline” lead emitted before 1999. The fraction A particles can only be transported on a limited distance by high magnitude events. They constitute a large reservoir for Cu and Pb and may play a major role in the long-term contamination of urban soils.