Lead has been widely used since antiquity, but its uses drastically increased during the Industrial Revolution. The global emission of Pb into the environment was mainly due to tetraethyl lead added to gasoline as an antiknock additive. Because of its toxicity and neurological effects, the compound was phased out in the 1980s. Isotopic signatures are widely applied to differentiate sources of Pb; however, this is an expensive and sophisticated analysis compared to elemental analysis. Thus, this study aims to gain insight into leaded gasoline registered in mud depocenters from the southeastern Brazilian coast using multivariate statistical tools on elemental analysis data of trace elements. Seven multiple cores were collected on board the Research Vessel Alpha Crucis. Al, As, Ba, Ca, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Ni, P, Pb, Sc, Sr, V and Zn were analyzed by acid digestion and quantified by ICP-OES. Levels and enrichment factors of Pb resulted in homogeneous columns, indicating that small variations in concentrations can be attributed to grain size differences, not presenting contaminated levels. From statistical results, the highest contribution on the first component was represented by a lithogenic source with the leaching of continental rocks. Lead content was notable in its high loadings in other components, which suggests atmospheric deposition. An increase in these components in subsurface samples from vertical profiles between 1935 and 1996 could represent a fingerprint of the consumption of leaded gasoline in Brazil between 1923 and 1989. Thus, statistical analysis of elemental data enabled to infer possible sources and pathways of Pb to the environment, without isotopic analysis.

自古以来，铅已被广泛使用，但是在工业革命期间铅的使用量急剧增加。铅向环境中的全球排放主要是由于向汽油中添加了四乙基铅作为抗爆添加剂。由于其毒性和神经学作用，该化合物在1980年代被淘汰。同位素特征被广泛用于区分Pb的来源。但是，与元素分析相比，这是一种昂贵且复杂的分析。因此，本研究旨在通过使用微量元素分析数据的多元统计工具，深入了解巴西东南沿海泥浆沉积中心中注册的含铅汽油。在研究容器Alpha Crucis上收集了七个多核。铝，砷，钡​​，钙，镉，铬，铜，铁，钾，镁，锰，镍，磷，铅，b，锶，通过酸消解分析V和Zn，并通过ICP-OES进行定量。Pb的水平和富集因子导致色谱柱均一，表明浓度的微小变化可归因于粒度差异，而不是受污染的水平。从统计结果来看，对第一组分的最大贡献是通过溶岩作用和陆相岩石的浸出。铅含量很高，其在其他组分中的含量很高，这表明大气中存在沉积。1935年至1996年间地下剖面中这些成分的增加可能代表了1923年至1989年间巴西含铅汽油的消耗量。因此，元素数据的统计分析能够推断出铅向铅的可能来源和途径。环境，