Purpose: Soil ingestion is an important human exposure pathway for lead(Pb).The study was designed to investigate distribution and oral bioaccessibility of Pb in soil around five lead battery plants in East China.Methodology: About 70 soil samples were collected from different orientations and distances to five battery plant sites of East China.An in vitro method was applied to soil samples for bioaccessibility analysis.The total concentrations of heavy metals in the soils were determined using flame atomic absorption spectrometry after microwave digestion.Stable lead isotopic compositions were executed on a multi-collector Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometer for tracing lead anthropogenic sources.Correlation analysis and multiple stepwise regression were used to discuss the collerations between Pb bioaccessibility and soil properties.Results and conclusions: The mean values for soil pH,soil organic matter,Fe and Mn concentrations ranged from 5.9–8.1,0.37–2.2%,27.8–37.5 g?kg?1,and 0.507–0.577 g?kg?1,respectively,while Pb concentrations ranged widely from 14.3–2000 mg?kg?1.The soil total Pb concentrations decreased sharply as the distance to the battery plant increased.The influence of the dominant wind direction gradually took effect with the increased age of the battery plant,leaving a higher concentration of Pb downwind of the dominant wind direction.The isotopic ratios(208Pb/206Pb and 207Pb/206Pb)of 14 soils from one battery plant formed a straight line in the plot,indicating Pb emissions from the lead battery plant as the single anthropogenic source within 200 m.Lead relative bioaccessibility in the soils ranged from 4.2 to 66.9%in the gastric phase and from 0.28 to 8.04%in the gastrointestinal phases.Pb bioaccessibilities inside the battery plants were significantly higher than those outside the plants,which decreased quickly with increasing distance to the battery plant as total amount of lead.Pb relative bioaccessibility was affected by soil texture and significant correlated with soil total Pb concentrations and soil physicochemical properties.Multiple stepwise regression identified a modle based on total Pb,SOM,and total Fe that could explain 97%of the variation in bioaccessible Pb in the stomach phase,expressed as BAgastric =-107.0 + 0.63[Pb] + 11.3[SOM]-1.92[Fe]; and a mode based on total Pb and soil pH that could explain 97%of the variation in bioaccessible Pb in the stomach-intestinal phase,expressed BAgastro-intestinal =-2.85 + 0.079[Pb]-1.04 pH.