A new article by the Ault Group highlighting airborne lead hotspots in Delhi, India was recently published in Environmental Science and Technology, with the title of "Elevated Concentrations of Lead in Particulate Matter on the Neighborhood-Scale in Delhi, India As Determined by Single Particle Analysis". Professor Ault and first author Hongru Shen worked in collaboration with Prof. Thomas Peters (University of Iowa), Gary Casuccio (RJ Lee Group), and Prof. Naresh Kumar (University of Miami). Soon after the publication, this work was highlighted in a press release by Michigan News and reported on in the Hindustan Times, and Governance Now.
This work provides scientific evidence that emissions from informal recycling operations of used lead-acid battery, may contribute to localized high airborne lead concentrations in Delhi, India. Our collaborators (led by Prof. Kumar) collected the particle samples across Delhi (August - December 2008) using the passive samplers. RJ Lee Group characterized the samples using computer-controlled scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (CCSEM-EDX). During our data analysis at Michigan higher than expected lead-rich particles jumped out and caught our attention. Traditional sources, such as coal-fired power plants, leaded fuel, and resuspended road dust, were excluded after temporal and spatial analysis. With both physical and chemical properties of each single particle, we further confirmed informal recycling operations of used lead-acid battery as the likely source. For more details check out our paper and the press linked above!
