Airborne analytical characterization

For the analytical characterization of airborne particles, the combined use of special... 

Tt may be safe to say that the interest of environmental scientists in airborne metals closely parallels our ability to measure these components. Before the advent of atomic absorption spectroscopy, the metal content of environmental samples was analyzed predominantly by wet or classical chemical methods and by optical emission spectroscopy in the larger analytical laboratories. Since the introduction of atomic absorption techniques in the late 1950s and the increased application of x-ray fluorescence analysis, airborne metals have been more easily and more accurately characterized at trace levels than previously possible by the older techniques. These analytical methods along with other modem techniques such as spark source mass spectrometry and activation analysis... 

Tab. 2.6 Survey of analytical methods for the characterization of individual airborne particles. (After Crasserbauer 1978a)...

The analytical methods used for the determination of uranium in environmental samples are basically the standard methods reviewed in brief in Chapter 1. The main differences are in the sample preparation procedures required for the analysis of the variety of environmental samples that include soil of different types, sediments, diverse types of vegetation, water from different sources with a wide range of acidity, salinity, suspended matter, etc. In addition, the environmental samples may include airborne particulate matter, vapors, and gases, as well as special samples involved in the food chain that may affect humans. Einally, the interplay of uranium (and other contaminants) between the environmental compartments—for example, the transfer factors of uranium from soil-to-plant or from vegetation to food products (e.g., free-range grazing cattle) are also part of the media that need to be characterized. 

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