Moss reveals local lead pollution from leaded aviation fuel near Oregon airports
Data files
Jul 16, 2026 version files 126.78 KB
Abstract
Lead emissions from piston-engine aircraft using leaded aviation gasoline (avgas) remain a significant source of environmental contamination near regional airports, posing potential health risks to nearby communities. Passive biomonitoring using the epiphytic moss Orthotrichum lyellii was combined with lead isotope fingerprinting to quantify lead concentrations and distinguish between legacy leaded gasoline and current avgas emissions near Hillsboro and Troutdale airports in Oregon. Our results reveal elevated lead levels up to 50 times the rural background near airports, with isotopic signatures confirming avgas as a dominant local source. These findings indicate that avgas use contributes substantially to environmental lead burdens in adjacent residential neighborhoods. Moss biomonitoring offers a cost-effective approach for detecting and mapping lead pollution from airport emissions, supporting efforts to evaluate exposure risks and inform regulatory actions aimed at reducing lead exposure from aviation sources.
Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.8w9ghx41z
Description of the data and file structure
The data is provided in an Excel spreadsheet (Supplementary_data_Moss_Reveals_Local_Lead_Pollution_from_Leaded_Aviation.xlsx).
Supplementary Data 1 contains summary statistics for lead (Pb) concentrations, log Pb concentration, and isotope ratios ( 206Pb/207Pb, 208Pb/206Pb).
Supplementary Data 2, 3, & 4 contain the following information for samples: longitude and latitude, distance, collection year, species, lead(Pb) concentrations in mg/kg, log Pb concentrations, and lead isotope ratios ( 206Pb/204Pb, 207Pb/204Pb, 208Pb/204Pb, 206Pb/207Pb, 208Pb/206Pb, 208Pb/207Pb).
Supplementary data 5 contains the following information about samples outside the Portland background (mean +/- 3SD): distance, lead (Pb) isotope ratios ( 206Pb/204Pb, 207Pb/204Pb, 208Pb/204Pb, 206Pb/207Pb, 208Pb/206Pb, 208Pb/207Pb), and COUNT ( the number of isotopes in the sample that are outside the Portland background). A "Y" indicates that a given isotope is outside the Portland background.
Supplementary Data 6 & 7 contain the following information for reference materials: lead (Pb) concentration, recovery (%), lead isotope ratios ( 206Pb/204Pb, 207Pb/204Pb, 208Pb/204Pb, 206Pb/207Pb, 208Pb/206Pb, 208Pb/207Pb).
The uncertainty on lead concentration measurements is estimated as 2× the standard error, 21.7‰ and 19.5‰, based on repeat analysis of IAEA-336 (n=14) and BCR-482 (n=12), respectively (Supplementary Data 6). For lead isotope ratios the uncertainty of the data was estimated using 2× the mean absolute difference (MAD) precision of 39 samples (6 from this study and 33 from Shiel et al., 2024) with replicated measurements as ± 0.01% for 206Pb/204Pb, 0.01% for 207Pb/204Pb, 0.02% for 208Pb/204Pb, 0.009% for 206Pb/207Pb, 0.010% for 208Pb/206Pb, and 0.004% for 208Pb/207Pb (95% confidence) (Supplementary Data 8).
A "rep" indicates a repeat lead concentration measurement used to monitor repeatability and calculate precision on measured Pb concentrations for real samples. A "dup" refers to a full procedural duplicate, inclusive of sample digestion and lead concentration analysis.
Access information
Other publicly accessible locations of the data:
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Data were derived from the following sources:
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Lead concentration and isotope ratios for Portland background were obtained from:
Shiel, A. E., Jovan, S. & Murphy, C. J. Lead-sheathed telecom cables and historic leaded gasoline emissions substantially raise environmental lead levels in Portland, Oregon. Commun. Earth Environ. 5, 1–10 (2024).