31-3 Lead in the Environment: New insights from X-ray techniques

Session: Environmental Geochemistry and Health (Posters)

Poster Booth No.: 29

Presenting Author:

Sarah Hayes

Authors:

Hayes, Sarah M.¹, Root, Robert A.², Sowers, Tyler D.³, Brabander , Daniel J.⁴, Alpers, Charles N.⁵, O'Day, Peggy A.⁶

(1) Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA, , (2) Soil, Water, and Environmental Science Department, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA, (3) Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA, (4) Department of Environmental Studies, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, USA, (5) California Water Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Sacramento, CA, USA, (6) Life and Environmental Sciences Department, University of California, Merced, Merced, CA, USA,

Abstract:

Despite decades of progress, lead (Pb) remains a pressing global health concern. Lead in the Environment (Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry, volume 92) examines the fundamental geochemistry of Pb, its health impacts, and sources of Pb to the environment, both legacy and emerging. In reviewing the historical and modern sources of Pb use and their effects, a tension between its utility and toxicity emerges. This tension has created a cyclic pattern of 1) adopting new technological uses that disperse Pb in the environment, 2) human exposure to Pb with toxicological effects, followed by 3) the eventual removal of Pb from that use. This pattern has been repeated throughout history and continues today. Societal tension originates with the unique physical and electrical properties that make Pb highly useful and the toxic effects of Pb on many organismal systems, including the nervous and circulatory systems. Recognizing this cycle may be an important part of limiting global Pb exposure, particularly because the use of Pb is unlikely to be curtailed in the immediate future, especially due its use in lead-acid batteries that are critical to transportation and energy storage.

This presentation will highlight important X-ray techniques that have provided insight into Pb cycling and exposure to humans and wildlife in natural and manmade environments. Portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) has revolutionized the ability to study Pb in environmental samples because it is an easy to use, relatively low-cost instrument, with minimal per sample costs. As a result, pXRF has been used to identify Pb sources in residential areas associated with elevated blood lead levels and to conduct soil surveys to map the distribution of Pb in surface soils. A more specialized technique, X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) directly probes the Pb atomic coordination environment and can identify the Pb-hosting phase, even in complex, heterogeneous samples with low Pb content. A new XAS variant, high-energy resolution fluorescence detection (HERFD) with X-Ray Absorption Near Edge Structure (XANES) spectroscopy enables collection of spectra that are significantly more featured and diagnostic than traditional fluorescence measurements, particularly for high atomic number elements, such as Pb. This presentation provides a novel synthesis of literature related to these techniques as well as examples of the improved spectral resolution offered by HERFD-XANES.

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