Coupling physico-chemical and statistical analyses of bulk deposition to assess heavy metals' speciation near a lead and zinc primary smelter

Abstract
For more than twenty years bulk deposition has been analysed to estimate the environmental impact of a nearby lead and zinc primary smelter located in northern France. A R-mode factor analysis with varimax rotation was performed leading to the identification of four principal components. Then several physico-chemical techniques were used in order to assess the elemental and molecular composition of the insoluble part of the bulk deposition collected at the same location during one year. Attention has been given to lead and zinc speciation assessed by combining several techniques (XRD, SEM-EDS and Raman microspectrometry).