X-ray fluorescence investigation of heavy-metal contamination on metal surfaces in the Pilot Plant Complex, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland

摘要

A field program using a portable x-ray fluorescence (XRF) instrument was carried out to obtain data on loadings of RCRA-regulated heavy metals in paint on metal surfaces within the Pilot Plant Complex at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. Measured loadings of heavy metals were sufficiently small that they do not present problems for either human exposure or the disposition of building demolition rubble. An attempt to develop an external calibration of the XRF instrument for cadmium, chromium, and lead was unsuccessful. Significant substrate effects were observed for cadmium and chromium; for accurate results for these elements, it appears necessary to calibrate by using a sample of the actual metal substrate on which the paint is located. No substrate effects were observed for lead, but the use of lead L-shell x-ray emission lines in the instrument mode utilized in this study appears to result in a significant underestimate of the lead loading due to self-absorption of these emissions.