Elemental composition of ambient aerosols measured with high temporal resolution using an online XRF spectrometer

Abstract

Abstract. The Xact 625 Ambient Metals Monitor was tested during a 3-week field campaign at the rural, trafficinfluenced site Härkingen in Switzerland during the summer of 2015. The field campaign encompassed the Swiss National Day fireworks event, providing increased concentrations and unique chemical signatures compared to non-fireworks (or background) periods. The objective was to evaluate the data quality by intercomparison with other independent measurements and test its applicability for aerosol source quantification. The Xact was configured to measure 24 elements in PM 10 with 1 h time resolution. Data quality was evaluated for 10 24 h averages of Xact data by intercomparison with 24 h PM 10 filter data analysed with ICP-OES for major elements, ICP-MS for trace elements, and gold amalgamation atomic absorption spectrometry for Hg. Ten elements (S, K, Ca, Ti, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Ba, Pb) showed excellent correlation between the compared methods, with r 2 values ≥ 0.95. However, the slopes of the regressions between Xact 625 and ICP data varied from 0.97 to 1.8 (average 1.28) and thus indicated generally higher Xact elemental concentrations than ICP for these elements. Possible reasons for these differences are discussed, but further investigations are needed. For the remaining elements no conclusions could be drawn about their quantification for various reasons, mainly detection limit issues. An indirect intercomparison of hourly values was performed for the fireworks peak, which brought good agreement of total masses when the Xact data were corrected with the regressions from the 24 h value intercomparison. The results demonstrate that multi-metal characterization at hightime-resolution capability of Xact is a valuable and practical tool for ambient monitoring.

Air pollutant variations in Suzhou during the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown of 2020: High time-resolution measurements of aerosol chemical compositions and source apportionment

“…Additionally, ICs were calibrated by testing concentration gradients of the standard agent (Merck, Germany) using the external calibration method ( Tang et al., 2020 ). Twenty-three elements (e.g., K, Fe, Zn, Ca, Si, Mn, Pb, Cu, Ti, As, V, Ba, Cr, Se, Ag, Cd, Ni, Au, Co, Sn, Sb, Tl, and Hg plus Pd for quality assurance) were monitored by an Xact 625 ambient metals monitor (Cooper Environmental Services (CES), Beaverton, OR, USA) via X-ray fluorescence (XRF) ( Furger et al., 2017 ). For each sample analysis, the detector energy gain was automatically adjusted using pure Pd as an internal standard.…”

Characteristics and Sources of Hourly Trace Elements in Airborne Fine Particles in Urban Beijing, China

“…Given that V is an important tracer of oil combustion, this element was retained to aid in the source analysis. Comparisons of measurements by Xact 625 and collections of manual filter samples, which were subsequently analyzed for elements by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry or inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, have been conducted in some studies (Furger et al, 2017;Lei et al, 2019), and the results indicate that Xact is a valuable and practical tool for ambient monitoring of elements. Hourly sulfate concentrations in PM 2.5 were observed by a rapid collector of particles-ion chromatography system, and the detailed introduction of this instrument can be found in Wen et al (2006).…”

Determination of Particulate Matter Emission Factors of Common Pyrotechnic Articles

“…Such an approach is appropriate and describes a suitable starting point for emission measurements of PAs. Elemental analyses via inductively coupled plasma (ICP) techniques or X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF) [28], as well as application of High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) for carbon-based combustion products or Pyrolysis/GC/MS for rapid profiling of gaseous emissions, can extend such measurements [29].…”