Three-Millennia Alpine-Lake Records of Divergent Atmospheric Cd, Pb, Sb, and Hg Pollution in Southwestern China Linked to Evolving Metallurgy.

Metallurgy has left a millennia-scale environmental footprint, yet the scarcity of long-term Chinese records remains a critical gap in global atmospheric metal pollution history. Here, we reconstructed 3000-year records of atmospheric antimony (Sb), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), and mercury (Hg) pollution using radiometrically dated sediment cores from three alpine lakes (∼4000 m a.s.l.) in Yunnan Province, southwestern China─a region known as the Kingdom of Nonferrous Metals. Sb, Pb, and Cd pollution showed distinct spatiotemporal shifts tied to regional metallurgy. Sb and Pb pollution first occurred in northeastern Yunnan during the mid-1400s, whereas the onset in western Yunnan emerged ∼200 y later, driven by expanding copper/silver (Cu/Ag) smelting, distinct cupellation/sinter-reduction technologies, and the central metallurgical status of the northeast. Cd pollution in Yunnan emerged after the early 1700s, coinciding with rising zinc (Zn) and Cu production. Peak preindustrial Sb, Pb, and Cd pollution culminated between the early 1800s and 1900 CE, exhibiting well-defined spatiotemporal patterns before declining amidst societal instability. Since the 1950s, rapid industrialization has driven Cd pollution to unprecedented levels, whereas Sb and Pb levels remain below their preindustrial peaks despite recent concurrent increases. In contrast to Sb, Pb, and Cd, Hg pollution recorded in the lakes was highly consistent, increasing steadily from the mid-1400s, accelerating after the 1850s, and surging after the 1950s, with dominant source areas shifting from Europe, across the broader northern hemisphere, and ultimately centering in China. These findings highlight the profound impact of evolving metallurgical practices on atmospheric quality over three millennia.