| Wrzesinsky, T; Klemm, O; Ilgen, G: Organo - Lead in Central European Fog, , 67-67 (1999) | |
| Abstract: Summer fog was collected in the Fichtelgebirge mountains, Northern Bavaria. A modified Caltech active strand cloudwater collector was used for sampling fog water on an event-basis. It was activated whenever the visibility dropped below 500 m. This automatic setup guaranteed collection of all fog events in spring, summer, and fall of 1997. Overall, 56 events, each lasting between 0.5 and 20 hours, occurred during the sampling period. Fog water was analyzed for pH, electric conductivity, and major inorganic ions. Although the concentrations showed a broad scatter (pH range 4.2 - 5.5), they are generally lower than those of comparable winter events and rain at the same location. We focused on the analysis of metals and organo-lead compounds. Total metal concentrations were analyzed by AAS. Organo-lead in the samples were derivatized and determined using GC-ICP-AED. We found tetra-methyl-Pb (TML) and tetra-ethyl-Pb (TEL) in our samples. Concentrations were between 1.2 and 21 µg Pb L In Germany, leaded gasoline is not sold any more since the end of the year 1996. This is probably the reason why TEL and TML concentrations are low when the fog originated from the SW, W, and NW at our site. However, in the Czech Republic, located to the East, leaded gasoline is still in use. The Pb and TEL concentrations in fog were higher by a factor of about 2 when the associated air masses originated from the East compared to those originating from the West, respectively. |
