An international analysis of trace metals in residential indoor dust shows high levels of lead, arsenic, and chromium in various countries, including Switzerland, posing significant health risks, particularly to children. Key sources include legacy lead from old paint and gasoline, building materials, and soil. Older homes, peeling paint, and garden access increase Pb and As concentrations, while high Cr and Pb levels are associated with potential health issues like neurodevelopmental problems.
C.F. Isley, K.L. Fry, X. Liu, G.M. Filippelli, J.A. Entwistle, A.P. Martin, M. Kah, D. Meza-Figueroa, J.T. Shukle, K. Jabeen, A.O. Famuyiwa, L. Wu, N. Sharifi-Soltani, I.N.Y. Doyi, A. Argyraki, K.F. Ho, C. Dong, P. Gunkel-Grillon, C.M. Aelion and M.P. Taylor, International analysis of sources and human health risk associated with trace metal contaminants in residential indoor dust. Environmental Science & Technology, 56, 1053–1068 (2022). doi:10.1021/acs.est.1c04494.
Switzerland has been participating in the European moss survey for heavy metals since 1990. Sites were reduced with no fundamental change in conclusion from 242 in 1990 to 73 in 2015. The cumulative concentration of heavy metals has decreased in moss since 1990, most remarkably for Pb (decrease of 88%). When concentrations in moss are compared to available emission data, the trends follow the same pattern.
M. Frontasyeva, H. Harmens, A. Uzhinskiy, O. Chaligava and participants of the moss survey (2020). Mosses as biomonitors of air pollution: 2015/2016 survey on heavy metals, nitrogen and POPs in Europe and beyond. Report of the ICP Vegetation Moss Survey Coordination Centre, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Dubna, Russian Federation, 136 pp. ISBN 978-5-9530-0508-1
Pb concentrations and isotope ratios were determined in moss (Hypnum cupressiforme and Pleurozium schreberi) collected from 1990 to 2015 in Switzerland and from 2006 to 2015 in Slovenia. The Pb concentration in moss decreased significantly over time in both countries. In 2015, at the end of the study period, concentrations were significantly higher in Slovenia compared to in Switzerland. Within Switzerland Pb concentrations differed significantly between regions. These differences are likely a consequence of different population densities and precipitation amounts.
E. Schnyder, M. Štrok, Z. Kosonen, M. Skudnik, D. Mazej, Z. Jeran and L. Thöni, Lead concentrations and stable lead isotope ratios in moss in Slovenia and Switzerland. Ecological Indicators, 95, 250–259 (2018). doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2018.06.072.
A 650 cm core from a Swiss bog represents 12,370 14C years of peat accumulation and provides the first complete record of atmospheric Pb deposition for the entire Holocene.
W. Shotyk, D. Weiss, J.D. Kramers, R. Frei, A.K. Cheburkin, M. Gloor and S. Reese. Geochemistry of the peat bog at Etang de la Gruère, Jura Mountains, Switzerland, and its record of atmospheric Pb and lithogenic trace metals (Sc, Ti, Y, Zr, and REE) since 12,370 14 C yr BP. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 65, 2337–2360 (2001). doi:10.1016/S0016-7037(01)00586-5.
Using data from the European EXPOLIS (Air Pollution Exposure Distribution within Adult Urban Populations in Europe) study, the associations between 48-hr personal exposures and home outdoor levels were assessed for PM2.5 total mass concentrations, sulfur and potassium for regional air pollution, lead and bromine for traffic-related particles, and calcium for crustal particles.
L. Oglesby, N. Künzli, M. Röösli, C. Braun-Fahrländer, P. Mathys, W. Stern, M. Jantunen and A. Kousa, Validity of ambient levels of fine particles as surrogate for personal exposure to outdoor air pollution—Results of the European EXPOLIS-EAS study (Swiss Center Basel). Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association, 50, 1251–1261 (2000). doi:10.1080/10473289.2000.10464156.
In Geneva, airborne lead was primarily from anthropogenic sources like vehicle emissions and waste incineration, with a minor contribution from coal burning in winter when this study was published.
M. Chiaradia and F. Cupelin, Behaviour of airborne lead and temporal variations of its source effects in Geneva (Switzerland): comparison of anthropogenic versus natural processes. Atmospheric Environment, 34, 959–971 (2000). doi:10.1016/S1352-2310(99)00213-7.
Peat cores taken from eight Swiss peatlands were used to calculate inventories of anthropogenic Pb using either Sc or Zr to quantify Pb derived from rock weathering. The shapes of the Pb/Sc and Pb/Zr profiles suggest that Pb was supplied exclusively by atmospheric deposition at all sites.
W. Shotyk, P. Blaser, A. Grünig and A.K. Cheburkin, A new approach for quantifying cumulative, anthropogenic, atmospheric lead deposition using peat cores from bogs: Pb in eight Swiss peat bog profiles. Science of The Total Environment, 249, 281–295 (2000). doi:10.1016/S0048-9697(99)00523-9.
Review on the use of environmental archives such as peat bogs, sediments, corals, trees, polar ice, plant material from herbarium collections, and human tissue material to assess both ancient and recent atmospheric lead deposition and its sources on a regional and global scale. It contains data from Switzerland.
D. Weiss, W. Shotyk and O. Kempf, Archives of atmospheric lead pollution. Naturwissenschaften, 86, 262–275 (1999). doi:10.1007/s001140050612.
This study on Swiss peat profiles recorded atmospheric lead deposition since the Industrial Revolution, finding two periods of enrichment in western and central Switzerland between 1880 and 1979. Pb isotope ratios were used to identify sources, and the results showed that anthropogenic Pb has dominated the atmospheric flux in this region since at least the Industrial Revolution.
D. Weiss, W. Shotyk, P.G. Appleby, J.D. Kramers and A.K. Cheburkin, Atmospheric Pb deposition since the industrial revolution recorded by five Swiss peat profiles: enrichment factors, fluxes, isotopic composition, and sources. Environmental Science & Technology, 33, 1340–1352 (1999). doi:10.1021/es980882q.
Sphagnum mosses received from a herbarium and collected recently from a peat bog surface, were used to assess the isotopic character of past and recent atmospheric Pb deposition in Switzerland and to constrain possible Pb sources. The most likely source of atmospheric Pb was coal-burning at the turn of the century, fly ash from waste incineration until approximately 1950, and gasoline combustion after that.
D. Weiss, W. Shotyk, J.D. Kramers and M. Gloor, Sphagnum mosses as archives of recent and past atmospheric lead deposition in Switzerland. Atmospheric Environment, 33, 3751–3763 (1999). doi:10.1016/S1352-2310(99)00093-X.
The use of a Swiss peat bog allowed to reconstruct the history of atmospheric lead deposition over the past 12,370 years providing a unique record of environmental change and potential anthropogenic pollution throughout this period. This is a classical, very much cited study.
W. Shotyk, D. Weiss, P. G. Appleby, A. K. Cheburkin, R. Frei, M. Gloor, J. D. Kramers, S. Reese and W. O. Van Der Knaap, History of atmospheric lead deposition since 12,370 14C yr BP from a peat bog, Jura Mountains, Switzerland. Science, 281, 1635-1640 (1998). doi:10.1126/science.281.5383.1635
Concentrations of Zn, Pb and Cd in the mosses Hypnum cupressiforme and Hylocomium spfendens were compared with the measurements of these elements in lichen-samples of Hypogymnin physodes at five sampling sites with different pollution situation in Switzerland.
A. Minger and U. Krähenbühl, Moss and lichen as biomonitors for heavy metals. International Journal of Environmental Analytical Chemistry, 67, 41–48 (1997). doi:10.1080/03067319708031392.
A peat core from a Swiss bog reveals significant enrichments of As, Sb, and Pb extending back to Roman times, indicating that the anthropogenic fluxes of these metals have exceeded the natural fluxes for more than 2000 years.
W. Shotyk, A.K. Cheburkin, P.G. Appleby, A. Fankhauser and J.D. Kramers, Two thousand years of atmospheric arsenic, antimony, and lead deposition recorded in an ombrotrophic peat bog profile, Jura Mountains, Switzerland. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 145, E1-E7 (1996). doi:10.1016/S0012-821X(96)00197-5.
This study analysed rain and snow samples for major and trace elements and concluded that most elements originate from natural sources like seawater and continental crust, with elements from human activities being transported long distances.
O. Atteia, Major and trace elements in precipitation on Western Switzerland. Atmospheric Environment, 28, 1352–2310 (1994). doi:10.1016/1352-2310(94)00193-O.
Historical overview of applications of 210Pb dating in Switzerland with a special emphasis on the work performed at the University of Bern.
H.R. von Gunten and R.N. Moser, How reliable is the 210Pb dating method? Old and new results from Switzerland. Journal of Paleolimnology, 9, 161–178 (1993). doi:10.1007/BF00677518.
Trace element dynamics in throughfall of two spruce forests of French Switzerland, with low pollution levels, was investigated. Among the elements studied, lead was unaffected by passing though the tree crowns.
O. Atteia and E. Dambrine, Dynamique d’éléments traces dans les précipitations sous le couvert de 2 pessières peu polluées de Suisse romande. Annales des Sciences Forestières, 50, 445–459 (1993). doi:10.1051/forest:19930503.