Lead in petrol. The isotopic lead experiment

Journal Article · Sun Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 1989 · Accounts of Chemical Research; (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/ar00166a005· OSTI ID:6978297

Facchetti, S ^[1]

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1. Commission of the European Communities Joint Research Centre, Ispra (Italy)

Many studies were dedicated to the evaluation of the impact of automotive lead on the environment and to the assessment of its absorption in the human population. They can be subdivided into two groups, those based on changes of air and blood lead concentrations and those based on changes of air and blood lead isotopic compositions. According to various authors, 50-66% of the lead added to petrol is mobilized in the atmosphere, while most of the remainder adheres to the walls of the exhaust system from which it is expelled by mechanical and thermal shocks in the forms of easily sedimented particles. The fraction directly emitted by engine exhaust fumes is found in the form of fine particles, which can be transferred a long way from the emitting sources. However important the contribution of petrol lead to the total airborne lead may be, our knowledge does not permit a straightforward calculation of the percentage of petrol lead in total blood lead, which of course can also originate from other sources (e.g., industrial, natural). To evaluate this percentage in 1973, the idea of the Isotopic Lead Experiment (ILE project) was conceived to label, on a regional scale, petrol with a nonradioactive lead of an isotopic composition sufficiently different from that of background lead and sufficiently stable in time. This Account summarizes the main results obtained by the ILE project.

• OSTI ID: 6978297
• Journal Information: Accounts of Chemical Research; (USA), Vol. 22:10; ISSN 0001-4842
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
37 INORGANIC
ORGANIC
PHYSICAL AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
GASOLINE
COMBUSTION PRODUCTS
DATA ANALYSIS
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
LEAD
LEAD ISOTOPES
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
MEASURING METHODS
DATA
ELEMENTS
FUELS
INFORMATION
ISOTOPES
LIQUID FUELS
METALS
NUMERICAL DATA
PETROLEUM PRODUCTS
023000* - Petroleum- Properties & Composition
540120 - Environment
Atmospheric- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (1990-)
540220 - Environment
Terrestrial- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (1990-)
400800 - Combustion
Pyrolysis
& High-Temperature Chemistry