Laser-induced plasma spectroscopy (LIPS): a versatile tool for monitoring heavy metal aerosols

Particulate heavy metals can have severe toxic and carcinogenic effects whe n inhaled in higher concentrations. Therefore, it is desirable to establish versatile instruments for a complete and rapid monitoring of particulate e missions of anthropogenic origin to assess hazard levels, evaluate control systems, or provide instantaneous feedback for process control. The aim of this work is to develop a mobile system for a direct analysis of automatica lly acquired aerosol filter samples. Laser-induced plasma spectroscopy (LIP S) is employed to provide quasi-on-line information on the elemental compos ition of the deposited aerosols. The system consists of a 19 "-rack with a laser, respectively, spectrometer/detector module connected to a miniaturiz ed sensor head through fibre optics, allowing a maximum flexibility of the set-up. Besides the analytical merits of the LIPS technique, preliminary re sults from a first measurement campaign at a municipal waste incineration f acility are addressed. An automated in-line filter sampling interface for t he LIPS apparatus was tested for the first time. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.