Dispersion and Deposition of Lead from Motor Exhausts and Its Effect on Vegetables Grown Along a Highway

摘要

Lead as a pollutant in the air, on plants and in soils has got increasing attention during the last few years in view of the adverse health effects. Tetraethyl lead or tetramethyl lead is still added as an anti-knock agent in gasoline in Europe leading to an increased lead content of the air, grass and vegetables grown along highways. Users of allotments along highways and grazing cattle are exposed to relatively high concentrations of lead in air and use nutrition from small heavily contaminated areas. In this paper some preliminary data on dispersion and deposition of lead along highways are combined with measurements of the lead content of vegetables grown in the vicinity of highways and with data on nutrition patterns, leading to a rough estimate of the weekly lead intake of allotment users in the Netherlands through inhalation and nutrition. (ERA citation 08:016374)