Non-Destructive Multielement Analysis of Airborne Particulates by Means of Instrumental Neutron Activation Method. Final Report for the Period 1 December 1975 - 28 February 1981

摘要

Suspended particles released from various sources, such as iron and steel works, small facilities (metal melting furnaces, heat treatment furnaces), various boilers using different kinds of fuel, and glass manufactures were subjected to multi-element analysis by means of instrumental neutron activation methods and energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry. Elemental concentrations of the suspended particles were naturally quite varied. The contribution of various aerosol generating sources to the urban atmosphere was estimated, considering seven main source components, namely soil particles of local and global origin, marine aerosols, suspended particles from iron- and steel industries, refuse incineration, fuel oil combustion and gasoline engine automobiles. Taking seven elements, such as Na, Al, K, Se, V, Un and Pb as index elements, their predicted atmospheric concentrations agreed with the observed ones for major elements within a factor of 1.5. Seasonal variations of atmospheric concentrations of various elements over some areas in Japan were observed. It was found that the concentration of global aerosol originating from the continental soil becomes high in spring, resulting in high concentrations of lithoidal elements, such as Al and Sc. Contrary to this, the concentration of elements originating mainly from human activities becomes high around November and December. (Atomindex citation 14:782440)