Characterization and distribution of mineral content in fine and coarse airborne particle fractions by neutron activation analysis

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Abstract
Nowadays, much attention is devoted to the study of toxic elements at trace and sub-trace levels in the investigation of particulate matter composition, especially in PM10 and PM2.5. Furthermore, it should be considered that the behavior knowledge is an other important task for understanding such species. Finally, the determination of particular elements with a few data in literature can assume relevant importance in industrial processes (Pd, Rh, Ir, etc. for catalytic pot, Sm, Ce, Eu, etc. for optical fibers and electronic process). In this article, we apply a nuclear technique, i.e. Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis, for the study of metal composition in fine and coarse fractions. This nuclear technique allows the determination of about 25 elements: for some of them, this is the first determination in the ambient air of Rome. The investigation was performed in a reserved area in downtown Rome during a 15-day intensive campaign. The sampled filters were irradiated at the nuclear reactor Triga Mark II (ENEA-Casaccia Laboratories) at neutron flux of 2.6 × 1012 n cm−2 s−1 for 32.55 h. The measurements of the γ-ray allow the qualitative and quantitative analysis. The element levels in fine and coarse fractions will be shown with the correlations among some elements being more interesting in the toxicological field: basically, the concentrations are very low.

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