Lead levels in London’s atmosphere have dropped drastically since lead additives in petrol were phased out, and currently meet UK air quality targets.
Lead levels in London’s atmosphere have dropped drastically since lead additives in petrol were phased out, and currently meet UK air quality targets. However despite this drop, airborne particles in London are still highly lead-enriched compared to natural background levels, according to new Imperial research published in PNAS.
The study found that up to 40 per cent of lead in airborne particles today comes from the legacy of leaded petrol. The researchers say this highlights the long-term persistence of contaminants introduced by human activities in the environment.
Lead author of the study Dr Eléonore Resongles, who carried out the work at Imperial’s Department of Earth Science and Engineering, said: “Petrol-derived lead from decades ago remains an important pollutant in London. Despite the leaded petrol ban, historically combusted lead is still present in London’s air more than 20 years later.”
The researchers compared the chemical and isotopic composition of particulate matter in the air with samples of road dust and urban soil, which confirmed the role of the resuspension of dust contaminated from leaded petrol in lead’s persistence in London today.
Read more at Imperial College London
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