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, G. Capannesi
b
, A. Rosada
b
a
Dipartimento Insediamenti Produttivi ed Interazione con l'Ambiente, Istituto Superiore per la Prevenzione E la Sicurezza del Lavoro (ISPESL),
via Urbana 167, I-00184, Rome, Italy
b
Dipartimento Tecnologie Fisiche e Nuovi Materiali, Ente Nazionale per le Nuove Tecnologie, l'Energia e l'Ambiente (ENEA),
Centro Ricerche Casaccia, via Anguillarese 301, I-00060, Rome, Italy
Received 1 October 2007; accepted 21 November 2007
Available online 31 December 2007
Abstract
Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) is employed for its important analytical properties. Fundamentally, INAA is a multi-
elemental technique allowing the determination of about 40 elements with a good Limit of Detection. In this paper we applied this nuclear
technique to study the element composition in PM10 determining about 30 elements.
25 filters were collected in downtown Rome from October 1999 to April 2000 and irradiated at the nuclear reactor Triga Mark II (ENEA-
Casaccia Laboratories). The -ray measurements have allowed the quali- and quantitative analysis. The element levels in PM10 with the relative
correlations have been determined: basically, the concentrations are very low.
Furthermore, the enrichment factors of all elements will be reported in order to understand the natural or anthropogenic origins of the
particulate matter: some elements may be attributed to long-range transport phenomena from other natural and/or anthropogenic sources.
2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Instrumental Nuclear Activation Analysis; Element; PM10; Anthropogenic sources
1. Introduction
The air quality in Rome area is a notable and complex problem
and it is not easy to find out a good solution. Air pollution in Rome
from gaseous species and particulate matter is basically due to
traffic, local heating and industrial emissions. The major pol-
lutants derived from these sources are sulfur dioxide, suspended
particles, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons,
ozone and other photochemical pollutants [1]. The ranges of
these pollutants are very wide showing important variations in the
range of seasons, weeks, days, hours and even minutes. Further-
more, the mechanisms of occurrence of the pollutant behavior in
such area are only evidenced by multi-elemental analysis. These
few considerations mean the hard work necessary to understand
the atmospheric pollutants dynamic in a megacity such as Rome.
Among the various species present in the particulate matter, a
great attention has been devoted since many years to the study of
the elements with elevated toxicity and great diffusion in the
environment (As, Cd, Cr, Hg, Ni, Pb, etc.) because of
anthropogenic (autovehicular, domestic heating, industrial emis-
sion) and natural (air mass transport, volcanic eruption, desert,
etc.) pollutant emissions. In particular, the metals differ fromother
toxic substances because they are neither created nor destroyed by
humans. Nevertheless, utilization by human influences the
potential health effects in two major ways: first, by direct emis-
sions, that is, by human or anthropogenic contribution to air,
water, soil and food, and second by altering the speciation or
biochemical form of the element [2]. The geologic and biological
cycles naturally redistribute metals by physical process and
bioconcentration, respectively. Therefore, metals distribution in
the environment reflects both natural sources and contribution
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
Microchemical Journal 88 (2008) 97106
www.elsevier.com/locate/microc
expressed as pg/m
3
;
expressed as g/m
3
; by ICP-AES)
Element Mean MinMax St. Dev. Guide values
WHO European
a
Ag 0.176 0.1010.234 0.045
As 1.35 0.1383.578 0.890
Au 0.008 bLOD0.050 0.011
Ba 12.8 2.9062.9 16.0
Br 22.2 4.5063.8 17.5
Ca 1500 4002800 360
Cd 0.526 bLOD1.24 0.253 5
Ce 0.843 0.1301.58 0.455
Co 0.379 0.1800.921 0.179
Cr 7.28 2.9912.9 2.40
Cs 0.151 0.0170.390 0.115
Eu
0.5