Spatial and temporal patterns of heavy metal deposition resulting from a smelter in El Paso, Texas

Heavy metal contamination in the environment is detrimental to human and environmental health. Air emissions from industry, especially ore smelting and refining, are a source of heavy metal contamination that affects land and populations downwind. A smelter constructed in 1887 in El Paso, Texas, USA and later decommissioned in 1999 resulted in significant environmental contamination and subsequent remediation of nearby neighborhoods. We sampled dust accumulated in attics from two distinct neighborhoods different distances and topographic positions downwind from the smelter site to determine if we could detect metal-bearing particulates related to smelter emissions and to evaluate potential spatial and temporal patterns of deposition. Both neighborhoods showed evidence of accumulation of smelter-related particulates the depositional environment of vented attics. The proportion of smelter-associated elements in attic dust from the neighborhood nearer the smelter was greater than the neighborhood further away and across a ridge. A temporal pattern of deposition defined by the construction of a 252 m tall smokestack in 1967 and other engineering controls significantly reduced the deposition of smelter particulates in both neighborhoods. However, we found the reduction effect was more significant in the neighborhood nearer the smelter, once again demonstrating the spatial effect of distance from source.