DIRECT DETERMINATION OF LEAD AND CADMIUM DOWN TO SUB pg/g LEVEL IN ANTARCTIC AND GREENLAND SNOW AND ICE BY LASER ATOMIC FLUORESCENCE SPECTROMETRY

C.F. BOUTRON; M.A. BOLSHOV; S.N. RUDNIEV; F.P. HARTMANN; B. HUTCH; N.I. BARKOV

doi:doi:10.1051/jp4:19917186

Issue		J. Phys. IV France Volume 01, Number C7, Décembre 1991 2nd International Conference Laser M2P


Page(s)		C7-695 - C7-698
DOI		https://doi.org/10.1051/jp4:19917186

2nd International Conference
Laser M2P

J. Phys. IV France 01 (1991) C7-695-C7-698
DOI: 10.1051/jp4:19917186

DIRECT DETERMINATION OF LEAD AND CADMIUM DOWN TO SUB pg/g LEVEL IN ANTARCTIC AND GREENLAND SNOW AND ICE BY LASER ATOMIC FLUORESCENCE SPECTROMETRY

C.F. BOUTRON¹, M.A. BOLSHOV², S.N. RUDNIEV², F.P. HARTMANN³, B. HUTCH⁴ and N.I. BARKOV⁵

¹ Laboratoire de Glaciologie et Géophysique de l'Environnement du CNRS, 54 rue Molière, BP. 96, F-38402 St Martin d'Hères cedex, France
² Institute of Spectroscopy, USSR Academy of Sciences, Moscow Region, Troitzk 142092, USSR
³ Laboratoire de Spectrométrie Physique, Université Joseph Fourier de Grenoble, BP. 87, F-38402 Saint Martin d'Hères cedex, France
⁴ Ringsdorff Werke GmbH, Drachenburgstrasse 1, D-5300 Bonn 2, Germany
⁵ Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, UI. Beringa 38, Leningrad 199226, USSR

Abstract
We present here the results of the first direct measurements of Pb and Cd in Antarctic and Greenland ancient ice and recent snow at ultralow concentration levels by Laser Excited Atomic Fluorescence Spectrometry with Electrothermal Atomization (LEAF-ETA) in clean room conditions. The limit of detection was found to be about 5 fg for Pb and 0.5 fg for Cd. Various snow and ice samples were analysed, allowing to reconstruct the past variations of the natural global atmospheric cycles of these two toxic metals during the last climatic cycle and to assess their recent alteration by man in both hemispheres.