Lead contamination of drinking water is a concern to all inhabitants of old cities where lead pipes and soldering are still present. Simple on-site electrochemical detection methods are promising technologies that have gained attention recently. However, conventional electrochemical techniques only quantify soluble forms of lead in water without accounting for insoluble particulates. Herein, a simple voltammetric technique for quantification of insoluble lead species is reported. Lead carbonate (PbCO₃) was used as a model compound to show the possibility of detecting particulate lead species directly in solution without chemical treatment. Specifically, electrochemical generation of protons was used as an alternative method to dissolve PbCO₃ and thus obtain a more realistic assessment of lead contamination. Lead was detected using cathodic stripping square wave voltammetry (CSSWV). After applying a high oxidizing potential to the electrode immersed in a PbCO₃ solution with solid PbCO₃ particulates, a significant increase in current was observed as compared to that of a saturated PbCO₃ solution. The signal was proportional to the amount of added PbCO₃, even when the solubility limit was exceeded. Thus, the combination of a local pH change with CSSWV provides a simple, rapid, and reagentless method for an in-situ detection of insoluble lead species.

饮用水中的铅污染是所有仍然存在铅管和焊料的老城区居民所关心的问题。简单的现场电化学检测方法是最近受到关注的有前途的技术。然而，传统的电化学技术只量化水中铅的可溶性形式，而没有考虑不溶性颗粒。本文报道了一种用于量化不溶性铅物种的简单伏安技术。碳酸铅 (PbCO ₃ ) 被用作模型化合物，以显示无需化学处理即可直接检测溶液中的颗粒铅物质的可能性。具体而言，质子的电化学产生被用作溶解 PbCO ₃的替代方法从而获得更现实的铅污染评估。使用阴极溶出方波伏安法 (CSSWV) 检测铅。在对浸入具有固体 PbCO ₃颗粒的 PbCO ₃溶液中的电极施加高氧化电位后，与饱和 PbCO ₃溶液相比，观察到电流显着增加。该信号与添加的 PbCO ₃的量成正比，即使超过了溶解度极限。因此，局部 pH 变化与 CSSWV 的结合为不溶性铅物种的原位检测提供了一种简单、快速和无试剂的方法。