Estimation of anthropogenic and natural heavy metals in the northwestern Mediterranean rainwater and total atmospheric deposition

As already done for aerosols, natural and anthropogenic Pb, Cd, Cu, and Zn concentrations in rainwater have been separated by a statistical numerical method. The natural part is found to strongly decrease from aerosol to rainwater: from 10–20% to 1% for Pb, Cu and Zn, and from 0.9% to 0.6% for Cd. The mean natural and anthropogenic levels in total atmospheric deposition is estimated.