New Insights into Pb Isotope Fingerprinting of U-Mine Material Dissemination in the Environment: Pb Isotopes as a Memory Dissemination Tracer

Environ Sci Technol. 2020 Jan 21;54(2):797-806. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.9b04828. Epub 2020 Jan 2.

Abstract

Stable Pb isotope ratios were measured and compared to U distributions in three soil cores located in a wetland highly impacted by water discharge of a former U-mine. Pb isotope ratios showed notable alignments in binary mixing plots, demonstrating the dissemination of radioactive-enriched material from the U-mine. Thanks to these alignments and to the measurement of the 204Pb isotope, a precise characterization of the Pb isotope composition of the U-ore was performed without the use of U-ore samples. The well-defined end-members with the help of a reevaluated isotope mixing model allowed the accurate determination of the radiogenic Pb percentages in the cores that were overall found to be >50%. Noncorrelated distributions of radiogenic 206Pb and U are observed in several of the wetland soil samples. They reveal postdepositional U redistribution explained by major U speciation changes due to redox cycling in the wetland. On the contrary, the radiogenic 206Pb showed no or little postdepositional mobility and thus can be considered to be a memory tracer of the dissemination of U-rich radioactive material: even after an important U loss, the radiogenic 206Pb is able to reveal past contamination by U-rich materials.

MeSH terms

  • Environmental Monitoring
  • Isotopes
  • Lead*
  • Soil
  • Soil Pollutants*
  • Wetlands

Substances

  • Isotopes
  • Soil
  • Soil Pollutants
  • Lead