Abstract
Abstract. Identification of trace elements in ambient air can add substantial information to pollution source apportionment studies, although they do not contribute significantly to emissions in terms of mass. A method for quantitative size and time-resolved trace element evaluation in ambient aerosols with a rotating drum impactor and synchrotron radiation based X-ray fluorescence is presented. The impactor collection efficiency curves and size segregation characteristics were investigated in an experiment with oil and salt particles. Cutoff diameters were determined through the ratio of size distributions measured with two particle sizers. Furthermore, an external calibration technique to empirically link fluorescence intensities to ambient concentrations was developed. Solutions of elemental standards were applied with an ink-jet printer on thin films and area concentrations were subsequently evaluated with external wet chemical methods. These customized and reusable reference standards enable quantification of different data sets analyzed under varying experimental conditions.
Highlights
Information on temporal variation and size segregation of trace elements in ambient air greatly facilitates the identification of pollution sources
The cutoff diameters of a rotating drum impactor were measured through quasi monodisperse DEHS particles and polydisperse NaCl particles to consolidate previous studies carried out in laboratory room air
The procedure is advantageous over already existing standards as the elemental composition and the thickness of the substrate is comparable to the sample composition and the film used for sampling
Summary
Information on temporal variation and size segregation of trace elements in ambient air greatly facilitates the identification of pollution sources. Bukowiecki et al (2005) presented a modified design to obtain particle cutoff sizes of 2.5 μm, 1 μm, and approximately 0.1 μm They included a first characterization of the impactor. A. Richard et al.: Time and size-resolved trace element analysis by determining the collection efficiency curves. The highly time resolved measurements of trace elements in ambient air result in low amounts of sample material in the range of a few μg per analyzed area. This demands a highly sensitive detection method such as synchrotron radiation based X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (SR-XRF), which provides a high sensitivity on small analysis areas.
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