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Automated and manual electron probe X-ray microanalyses were used to characterize the chemical composition and morphology of individual suspended particles, collected at different tributaries of Lake Baikal and in the central part of southern Lake Baikal. The data sets were reduced using hierarchical clustering, and the results were compared by means of selection rules. All the samples are dominated by natural aluminosilicates and Si-rich particles. But small amounts of anthropogenic aluminosilicates (i.e., fly ash); Fe-rich, Al-rich, Cr-rich, and Zn-rich particles; and Cl-coated fibers were also detected. The contamination is especially severe in the southern basin, which can easily be reached by atmospheric pollution from the industrial centers near Irkutsk and Ulan-Ude and which is also influenced by the large Baikalsk cellulose factory. At the northern basin, pol lution is only detected at the inflow of the Tiya River, where the dumping of debris from the construction of the Baikal−Amour railroad results in high concentrations of Fe-rich particles.

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An overview is given of the recent applications of micro-analytical techniques to single particle environmental research performed at the University of Antwerp since 1990. Automated electron probe X-ray micro-analysis, laser microprobe mass spectrometry and micro-particle induced X-ray emission are the techniques most used for aerosol, aqueous suspension and sediment characterisation. Other techniques like scanning transmission electron microscopy, electron energy loss spectroscopy, Fourier transform infra red microscopy and secondary ion mass spectrometry have only recently been implemented into environmental research.

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