Weathering and dissolution rates among Pb shot pellets of differing elemental compositions exposed to various aqueous and soil conditions.

The present study was performed to investigate the weathering and dissolution rates of Pb shot pellets differing in elemental composition (Pb, Sb, and As) exposed under various aqueous and soil conditions using five commercial shot pellet preparations. Upon immersion in distilled water, the dissolution rates of shot pellets, calculated from the difference in weight before versus after immersion, decreased with increasing Sb + As contents and the dominant precipitate was hydrocerussite. These subsidiary ingredients may be related to the difficulty of metallic Pb oxidation (transformation to PbO). Weight losses standardized by the amount of rainfall upon exposure to rainfall on open grassland and under canopies of Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica) and bamboo-leafed oak (Quercus myrsinaefolia) were 1.11, 1.07, and 7.35 mg g pellets(-1) year(-1) L(-1), respectively, and was also related to Sb + As contents in shot pellets. However, annual dissolution rates of Pb standardized by the amount of rainfall as the soluble fraction at the same sites were 0.72, 0.33, and 0.40 mg Pb g pellets(-1) year(-1) L(-1) in the same order. These trends seemed to be related to the rainfall pH, which induces precipitation of Pb dissolved as PbCO(3) under conditions of higher pH at the Q. myrsinaefolia site or organic matter released from leaves, etc., which can form metal complexes. Dissolution rates of shot pellets buried in soils (Cambisol, Fluvisol, Regosol, Andosol) also seemed to be related to the soil pH and dissolved organic matter contents but were about sixfold faster than those with exposure to rainfall.