Comment on: “A novel approach to peatlands as archives of total cumulative spatial pollution loads from atmospheric deposition of airborne elements complementary to EMEP data: Priority pollutants (Pb, Cd, Hg)” by Ewa Miszczak, Sebastian Stefaniak, Adam Michczyński, Eiliv Steinnes and Irena Twardowska

Francois de Vleeschouwer*, Sandrine Baron, Joanna M. Cloy, Maxime Enrico, Vojtech Ettler, Nathalie Fagel, Heike Kempter, Malin E. Kylander, Chuxian Li, Jack Longman, Antonio Martínez Cortizas, Sam Marx, Nadine Mattielli, Timothy Mighall, Tiina M. Nieminen, Natalia Piotrowska, Xabier Pontevedra-Pombal, Steve Pratte, Virginie Renson, William ShotykEmma Shuttleworth, Jarek Sikorski, Nicola Stromsoe, Julie Talbot, Clemens von Scheffer, Dominik Weiss, Claudio Zaccone, Gaël Le Roux

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalBook/Film/Article reviewpeer-review

9 Citations (Scopus)
9 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

A recent paper by Miszczak et al. (2020) examines metal contamination of mires in Poland and Norway. The authors conclude that lead (Pb) records in ombrotrophic peatlands cannot be used to reconstruct the chronological history of anthropogenic activities due to post-depositional mobility of the metal. We contest this general conclusion which stands in contrast with a significant body of literature demonstrating that Pb is largely immobile in the vast majority of ombrotrophic peatlands. Our aim is to reaffirm the crucial contribution that peat records have made to our knowledge of atmospheric Pb contamination. In addition, we reiterate the necessity of following established protocols to produce reliable records of anthropogenic Pb contamination in environmental archives.
Original languageEnglish
Article number138699
Number of pages5
JournalScience of the Total Environment
Volume737
Early online date15 Apr 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Oct 2020

Bibliographical note

Acknowledgements
We are thankful to P.G. Appleby, R. Bindler, J. Sonke, B. Smieja-Krol and three anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments.

Keywords

  • lead
  • immobility
  • ombrotrophic peatland
  • bog
  • geochemistry
  • enrichment factor
  • metal accumulation rate
  • Geochemistry
  • Ombrotrophic peatland
  • Metal accumulation rate
  • Immobility
  • Enrichment factor
  • Lead
  • Bog
  • JURA MOUNTAINS
  • CORES
  • LEAD-DEPOSITION
  • TRACE-METALS
  • INDUSTRIAL
  • SPHAGNUM MOSSES
  • PEAT BOGS
  • NORTHERN ALBERTA
  • CARBON ACCUMULATION
  • ISOTOPIC COMPOSITION

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