Detection of lead and arsenic soil pollution in abandoned industrial poles to the south of Marseille, France by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

We report on lead and arsenic soil pollution in abandoned industrial poles to the south of Marseille, France, where several lead production plants were active until the 1920's. Since this area is currently considered as building plot for residential districts, the detection of soil pollution is of great public interest. Here, a number of samples were collected and subsequently investigated by calibration-free laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy. It was shown that the concentration of both lead and arsenic within the collected samples is drastically elevated in comparison to the particular natural content as reported in literature. Since the applied method does not require any standards for calibration, it is easy to use in order to determine local soil pollution as a basis for soil clean up procedures.