Atmospheric Deposition of Lead and Cadmium in a Central European Country over the Last Three Decades

Lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) levels in ambient air were explored due to their toxicity and deleterious environmental effects. The aim of this study was to assess the time tendencies and spatial changes in Pb and Cd atmospheric deposition in a Central European country with a long history of ambient air pollution. We used measured data on precipitation chemistry and ambient air pollutant concentrations in the Czech Republic (CR) obtained within a nation-wide monitoring network. Our analysis is based on spatial patterns of annual wet-only and dry deposition fluxes constructed for 1996–2021. The results indicated that both Pb and Cd deposition over the CR during the last three decades decreased substantially, about 10 times, the absolute values for Cd being one order of magnitude lower than those for Pb. The wet-only deposition pathway dominated over the dry deposition pathway. This trend reflects the heavy metal (HM) emission reductions in the CR and neighboring countries and is in line with decreasing trends in ambient air HM concentrations in Europe. The spatial patterns showed that the northern industrial portions of the CR were loaded more as compared to the southern parts, and that the extension of affected regions has recently decreased substantially.