Geochemical and Pb isotopic evidence for sources and dispersal of metal contamination in stream sediments from the mining and smelting district of Prˇı ´bram, Czech Republic Vojte ˇch Ettler a, * , Martin Mihaljevi  c a , Ondrˇej S ˇ ebek b , Michael Molek a , Toma ´s ˇ Grygar c , Josef Zeman d a Institute of Geochemistry, Mineralogy and Mineral Resources, Charles University, Albertov 6, 128 43 Prague 2, Czech Republic b Laboratories of Geological Institutes, Charles University, Albertov 6, 128 43 Prague 2, Czech Republic c Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, Analytical Laboratory, Academy of Science of the Czech Republic, 250 68 R ˇ e  z, Czech Republic d Institute of Geological Sciences, Masaryk University in Brno, Kotla ´r ˇska ´ 2, 611 37 Brno, Czech Republic Received 6 February 2005; accepted 7 October 2005 Pb isotopes properly complete traditional investigations of metal sources and dispersal in contaminated stream sediments. Abstract Stream sediments from the mining and smelting district of Pr ˇı ´bram, Czech Republic, were studied to determine the degree, sources and dis- persal of metal contamination using a combination of bulk metal and mineralogical determinations, sequential extractions and Pb isotopic anal- yses. The highest metal concentrations were found 3e4 km downstream from the main polymetallic mining site (9800 mg Pb kg ÿ1 , 26 039 mg Zn kg ÿ1 , 316.4 mg Cd kg ÿ1 , 256.9 mg Cu kg ÿ1 ). The calculated enrichment factors (EFs) confirmed the extreme degree of contam- ination by Pb, Zn and Cd (EF > 40). Lead, Zn and Cd are bound mainly to Fe oxides and hydroxides. In the most contaminated samples Pb is also present as Pb carbonates and litharge (PbO). Lead isotopic analysis indicates that the predominant source of stream sediment contamination is historic PbeAg mining and primary Pb smelting ( 206 Pb/ 207 Pb ¼ 1.16), while the role of secondary smelting (car battery processing) is negligible. Ó 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Metals; Stream sediments; Pollution; Pb isotopes; Pr ˇı ´bram; Czech Republic 1. Introduction Mining and smelting constitute the principal sources of metals in the environment at a large number of sites (Hudson-Edwards et al., 1996; Miller, 1997; Monna et al., 2000; Hillier et al., 2001; MacKenzie and Pulford, 2002; Ettler et al., 2004, 2005). In the mining district of Prˇı ´bram, Czech Republic, extensive AgePb mining has occurred since Middle Ages up to the 1970s and U mining was practiced mainly in the second half of the 20th century. Furthermore, the Pb smelter, which is in operation for over 200 years, constituted another significant source of pollution in the area. In the last few decades, a large number of studies have focused on the distribution of pollution of soils (Rieuwerts et al., 1999; Ettler et al., 2004, 2005), alluvial soils (Boru ˚vka et al., 1996) and mosses (Sucharova ´ and Suchara, 2004) by metals. Stream sediments are believed to record the environmental impact on fluvial systems over time and are often studied to determine the overall pollution in an area (Hillier et al., 2001). However, information on the bulk concentration of a contaminant alone is not sufficient to assess the fate or potential mobility of contaminants and must be combined with other, more precise mineralogical or chemical techniques * Corresponding author. Tel.: þ420 221 951 493; fax: þ420 221 951 496. E-mail address: ettler@natur.cuni.cz (V. Ettler). 0269-7491/$ - see front matter Ó 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2005.10.024 Environmental Pollution 142 (2006) 409e417 www.elsevier.com/locate/envpol