Lead aerosol baseline: concentration at White Mountain and Laguna Mountain, California

The lead aerosol concentration at White Mountain, California, may be regarded as the present baseline concentration for atmospheric lead for the continental United States. The seasonal trend of lead aerosols at White Mountain and Laguna Mountain shows a summer maximum and a winter minimum. This is because both mountain sampling sites are well above the thermal (radiation) inversion, which normally occurs in the winter, trapping pollutants below the inversion boundary.