Lead isotopes as a tracer of Pb origin in the sediments from Beijiang River, South China

Concentrations and enrichment of heavy metals were determined in sediments collected from Beijiang River, South China. The Pb isotopic compositions in these sediment samples were also employed to effectively identify metal pollution sources. According to the measured Pb concentrations, the total Pb concentrations in sediments varied from 62.1 to 1,152.5 μg/g, with an average concentration of 249.6 μg/g. The assessment by Geoaccumulation Index indicates that Pb is at the ‘strongly contaminated’ level, indicating that the Pb pollution was mainly due to anthropogenic inputs. The observed isotopic ratios varied from 1.174 to 1.204 for ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁷Pb, 2.452 to 2.478 for ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁷Pb, 18.404 to 18.937 for ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb, 15.631 to 15.790 for ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb, 38.455 to 39.121 for ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb. The majority of these ratios are lower than those reported for natural geological sources, especially for sediments collected from a smelter. Significant correlation between Pb concentration and isotopic ratios suggested possible binary mixing of Pb. Combined with Pb concentration and enrichment levels, our results show that Pb pollution in the sediments of Beijiang River was mainly derived from anthropogenic sources. The mining activities and metal smelting processing was the main source of Pb pollution in this region.