This work focuses on the development of a procedure to study the mechanism of leaching of lead from sub-micrometer lead glass particles using 0.3 mol l(-1) HNO3 as a leachant. Glass particles with an effective size distribution range from 0.05 to 1.4 mu m were generated by laser ablation (213 nm Nd:YAG laser) and collected on an inline 0.2 mu m syringe filter. Subsequently, the glass particles on the filter were subjected to online leaching and continuous monitoring of lead (Pb-208) in the leachate by quadrupole ICP-MS. The lead leaching profile, aided by the particle size distribution information from cascade impaction, was numerically fitted to a mathematical model based on the glass intraparticle diffusion, liquid film distribution and thermodynamic glass-leachant distribution equilibrium. The findings of the modeling show that the rate-limiting step of leaching is the migration of lead from the core to the surface of the glass particle by an ion-exchange mechanism, governed by the apparent intraparticle lead diffusivity in glass which was calculated to be 3.1 x 10(-18) m(2) s(-1). Lead leaching is illustrated in the form of graphs and animations of intraparticle lead release (in time and intraparticle position) from particles with sizes of 0.1 and 0.3 mu m. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.