Next‐generation ice core technology reveals true minimum natural levels of lead (Pb) in the atmosphere: Insights from the Black Death
Next‐generation ice core technology reveals true minimum natural levels of lead (Pb) in the atmosphere: Insights from the Black Death
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DOI：
10.1002/2017gh000064
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发表时间：
2017-06
期刊：
影响因子：
4.8
通讯作者：
A. More;N. Spaulding;P. Bohleber;M. Handley;H. Hoffmann;E. Korotkikh;A. Kurbatov;Christopher P. Loveluck;S. Sneed;M. McCormick;P. Mayewski
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文献类型：
--
作者：
A. More;N. Spaulding;P. Bohleber;M. Handley;H. Hoffmann;E. Korotkikh;A. Kurbatov;Christopher P. Loveluck;S. Sneed;M. McCormick;P. Mayewski
与普遍的假设相反，对阿尔卑斯山冰川的下一代高分辨率(每年到多年)和超高(亚年度)分辨率分析表明，大气中真实的历史最低自然铅水平只在过去2000年中出现过一次。在黑死病大流行期间，人口和经济崩溃中断了金属生产，大气中的铅降到了无法检测到的水平。这一发现挑战了当前政府和行业对工业化前铅污染及其对世界各地儿童和成人人类健康的潜在影响的理解。现有的技术和地理位置限制了之前的冰芯调查。我们提供了从瑞士-意大利阿尔卑斯山高阿尔卑斯冰川Colle Gnifetti提取的大气铅沉积的新的高分辨率(离散、电感耦合等离子体质谱)和超高分辨率(激光消融电感耦合等离子体质谱，LA-ICP-MS)记录。我们发现，与传统观点相反，处于或接近自然背景的低水平只发生在新冰芯记录的约2000年中的一段4年时间里，在黑死病(约公元前1349-1353年)期间，这是欧亚历史上最具破坏性的大流行。超高的年代分辨率首次将新的冰化学数据与历史记录进行了详细和果断的比较。历史证据表明，从1349年到1353年，核心地点的采矿活动停止了逆风向，同时冰川铅(Pb)浓度--通过放射性碳测年证实的层计数确定--下降到低于探测到的水平，比早期研究中认为较低的数字低了一个数量级。以前关于工业化前大气中“天然”本底铅水平--以及对人类的潜在影响--的假设具有误导性，对当前的环境、工业和公共卫生政策以及人类铅暴露的历史都有重大影响。这项新技术的跨学科应用为研究人类活动对过去和现在人类健康的影响开辟了新的途径。
Contrary to widespread assumptions, next‐generation high (annual to multiannual) and ultra‐high (subannual) resolution analyses of an Alpine glacier reveal that true historical minimum natural levels of lead in the atmosphere occurred only once in the last ~2000 years. During the Black Death pandemic, demographic and economic collapse interrupted metal production and atmospheric lead dropped to undetectable levels. This finding challenges current government and industry understanding of preindustrial lead pollution and its potential implications for human health of children and adults worldwide. Available technology and geographic location have limited previous ice core investigations. We provide new high‐ (discrete, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, ICP‐MS) and ultra‐high resolution (laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, LA‐ICP‐MS) records of atmospheric lead deposition extracted from the high Alpine glacier Colle Gnifetti, in the Swiss‐Italian Alps. We show that contrary to the conventional wisdom, low levels at or approaching natural background occurred only in a single 4 year period in ~2000 years documented in the new ice core, during the Black Death (~1349–1353 C.E.), the most devastating pandemic in Eurasian history. Ultra‐high chronological resolution allows for the first time detailed and decisive comparison of the new glaciochemical data with historical records. Historical evidence shows that mining activity ceased upwind of the core site from ~1349 to 1353, while concurrently on the glacier lead (Pb) concentrations—dated by layer counting confirmed by radiocarbon dating—dropped to levels below detection, an order of magnitude beneath figures deemed low in earlier studies. Previous assumptions about preindustrial “natural” background lead levels in the atmosphere—and potential impacts on humans—have been misleading, with significant implications for current environmental, industrial, and public health policy, as well as for the history of human lead exposure. Trans‐disciplinary application of this new technology opens the door to new approaches to the study of the anthropogenic impact on past and present human health.