Comparison of the historical atmospheric lead concentrations between Eastern and Western Europe in the period 1850-1995. The Western European record is from a Colle Gnifetti ice core obtained in the Swiss Alps.
A research team from the Paul Scherrer Institute has reconstructed the concentration record of lead in the atmosphere in Russia since 1680. As no continuous atmospheric lead measurements had been made, the researchers are able to give the first outline of what the record could have been like. The results demonstrate a significant increase in the atmospheric lead concentrations since the 1930s and a significant reduction since the 1970s. The increase is interpreted as being due to rapid industrialisation and the enhanced use of leaded gasoline in automobiles. The reduction can be traced to economic difficulties and the associated dissolution of the former Soviet Union, accompanied by a decrease in exhaust emissions by road traffic. In an earlier research project, the researchers also found a similar reduction in Western Europe. Here, however, it was caused by the introduction of unleaded gasoline.
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