In 2019, a fire destroyed the lead-covered roof of Notre-Dame de Paris. Immediately, concern grew about the lead contamination that might have resulted from the fire. To assess this possible contamination, it was first necessary to determine unambiguously the signature of the fire’s emissions.
A collaboration led by the LSCE (CEA-CNRS-UVSQ) as part of the Notre-Dame scientific project (CNRS/INEE, Ministry of Culture) precisely determined the isotopic signature of the lead emitted during the Notre-Dame cathedral fire in Paris in April 2019.
As no dust samples were taken at the site of the fire, and the area around the cathedral was quickly and efficiently cleaned up, we analysed the dust taken from inside the cathedral as the clean-up work progressed.
A multi-tracer geochemical approach was developed specifically to identify samples representative of the fire. Isotopic analysis of these samples revealed the signature of the lead emitted by the fire.
Our work indicates that a large proportion of the lead used to manufacture the plates at the origin of the fire emissions comes from the same lead purchased from a Spanish mine in southern Spain.
Now it’s up to the scientists to compare this lead with the lead from the capital. Analyses are under way and the results should be published soon. However, a number of clues suggest that this pollution is fairly marginal. For example, the lead from the cathedral is not present at all in the honey taken in the 6 months following the fire.
LSCE contact: Sophie Ayrault
Briard, J., Ayrault, S., Roy-Barman, M., Bordier, L., L’Héritier, M., Azéma, A., … & Baron, S. (2022). Determining the geochemical fingerprint of the lead fallout from the Notre-Dame de Paris fire: Lessons for a better discrimination of chemical signatures. Science of The Total Environment, 160676.
https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1gHxdB8ccuw9c
Philippe, M., Le Pape, P., Resongles, E., Landrot, G., Freydier, R., Bordier, L., … & Ayrault, S. (2023). Fate of antimony contamination generated by road traffic–A focus on Sb geochemistry and speciation in stormwater ponds. Chemosphere, 313, 137368.
https://authors.elsevier.com/c/1gIvIAOM9zhzR