AbstractThe performance of a compact and economic MiniPal EDXRF spectrometer (Philips Analytical, Almelo, The Netherlands) was investigated for the analysis of aerosol filters. A standard operating procedure for the XRF analysis of aerosols on filters was followed. First, different aerosol grade filters (Nuclepore, Whatman, Teflon) and Mylar foil were measured to evaluate the blank values. The initial results showed high apparent blank values of Fe, Ni, Cu and Zn for all the substrates, which was attributed to the measurement platform of the commercial system, made out of brass coated with nickel. To overcome this problem, the measurement platform was covered with high‐purity silver paint. In this way, the high blank values, introduced by the system itself, were considerably reduced. The second step was the selection of the best tube‐filter to use, among the standard ones already incorporated in the MiniPal. The optimum tube‐filters were found to be Mo and Ag for medium‐Z elements and Al for low‐Z elements. In the calibration procedure a series of thin reference standards were used. The calibration procedure was evaluated by analysing aerosol samples measured previously with a Tracor EDXRF unit. Based on the analysis of these samples, the accuracy was on average 20% depending on the element and concentration. The precision of the analysis was better than 5%. Detection limits for aerosol samples measured with the MiniPal system are in the range from 3 ng cm−2 (Al, Si) in a helium atmosphere, which is much better than with conventional EDXRF units, to 2 ng cm−2 (heavy metals), which is comparable to those for conventional EDXRF units. Measurements in a helium atmosphere were performed for both standard and aerosol samples. For light element analysis, an improvement of the detection limit by a factor of 2.5 was achieved when helium was used. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.