Organolead compounds in archives of environmental pollution

Abstract

The use of organolead compounds as specific tracers of present and past automotive pollution is discussed. Advantages and limitations of polar snow and old wine vintages as archives of environmental pollution are characterized. Trace and ultratrace analytical chemistry of organolead in atmospheric deposits from the remote environment and wine is briefly surveyed. Automotive contamination of vineyards is investigated with the example of Côtes du Rhône wines. Long-range transport of organolead compounds to polar environments is discussed in terms of source, atmospheric conditions and air mass trajectories. The history of local and global automotive pollution by organolead is studied with the example of old wine vintages and deep snow cores, respectively, and correlated with the rise and fall of the consumption of leaded petrol.