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Assessment of Lead Contamination in Peatlands Using Field Portable XRF

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Abstract

Ombrotrophic peatlands are highly sensitive to atmospheric heavy metal deposition. Previous attempts to quantify peatland lead pollution have been undertaken using the inventory approach. However, there can be significant within-site spatial heterogeneity in lead concentrations, highlighting the need for multiple samples to properly quantify lead storage. Field portable x-ray fluorescence (FPXRF) continues to gain acceptance in the study of contaminated soil, but has not thus far been used to assess peatland lead contamination. This study compares lead concentrations in surface peat samples from the South Pennines (UK) derived using (a) FPXRF in the field, (b) FPXRF in the lab on dried samples and (c) ICP-OES analysis. FPXRF field and lab data are directly comparable when field measurements are corrected for water content, both can be easily used to estimate acid extractable lead using regression equations. This study is a successful demonstration of FPXRF as a tool for a time- and cost-effective means of determining the lead content of contaminated peatlands, which will allow rapid landscape scale reconnaissance, core logging, surface surveys and sediment tracing.

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Acknowledgments

We thank The University of Manchester for the provision of a Graduate Teaching Studentship (to E. L. Shuttleworth). We are grateful to The National Trust and United Utilities for allowing work to be carried out at the study sites and to the University of Manchester and Moors for the Future who provided funding for analytical costs. Thanks also go to John Moore, Jonathan Yarwood and Laurie Cunliffe for their assistance in the lab and to Jason Dortch for his help with constructing the figures. Finally, we would like to thank the reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions.

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  1. Upland Environments Research Unit, School of Environment, Education and Development, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK

    E. L. Shuttleworth, M. G. Evans & J. J. Rothwell

  2. School of Environment and Life Sciences, University of Salford, Salford, M5 4WT, UK

    S. M. Hutchinson

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  1. E. L. Shuttleworth
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  2. M. G. Evans
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  3. S. M. Hutchinson
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  4. J. J. Rothwell
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Correspondence to E. L. Shuttleworth.

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Shuttleworth, E.L., Evans, M.G., Hutchinson, S.M. et al. Assessment of Lead Contamination in Peatlands Using Field Portable XRF. Water Air Soil Pollut 225, 1844 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-013-1844-2

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