Epiphytic lichens, ambient PM-10, and bus air-filteraerosols collected in a city and the surrounding areawere used to monitor urban atmospheric metal depositionin the Metz area, NE France. According to the measuredPb and Zn concentrations, high-enrichment factors (EF) werecalculated for lichens collected in 2001 and 2003,suggesting an anthropogenic origin for those metals. Pband Zn concentrations in lichens and other samples arecorrelated, probably indicative of the level of pollutionrecorded. However, different trends and scatters in therelationship suggest decoupling of Zn and Pb sources inthis area. The lead isotopic composition of lichens varieslargely from downtown, near traffic roads and highways,to suburbs but indicate an overall stability of sources between2001 and 2003, although some minor variations werenoted. Remobilization of Pb from leaded gasoline is stillsignificant. The Zn isotopic composition measured in alllichens yielded fairly homogeneous
66Zn ranging from -0.2to 0.5 relative to Zn
JMC solution. Most lichen samplesare indistinguishable from urban aerosols (PM-10 and busair filters,
66Zn = 0.12 ± 0.21) and from flue gasesfrom the city waste combustor (
66Zn = 0.13 ± 0.12).No systematic variations of Zn EF and isotopic compositionswere observed for and between 2001 and 2003 samples.Some lichens having unradiogenic
206Pb/
207Pb ratios displayedhigh Zn and negative
66Zn, indicative of a possibletraffic source for Zn. A review from the literature on theZn isotopic composition of terrestrial materials is reportedbut a few reservoirs seem to have specific compositions.According to the actual precision obtained, Zn isotopes fortracing pollution sources might not be straightforwardbut might be potentially useful for specific studies.