DETERMINATION OF METALS IN AIRBORNE PARTICLES BY ELECTROTHERMAL VAPORIZATION INDUCTIVELY-COUPLED PLASMA-MASS SPECTROMETRY AFTER ACCUMULATION BY ELECTROSTATIC PRECIPITATION

A method to determine metals in airborne particles by electrothermal v aporization ICP-MS after sampling by electrostatic precipitation into a graphite tube is described. A mobile sampler was used to collect sam ples. Calibration was performed with dried aerosol produced by the neb ulization of a standard solution, For Cr, Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, Sr, Cd, Sb, Ba and Pb, the absolute detection limits were in the picogram range, T he high sensitivity allowed the monitoring of several metals in ambien t air with a time resolution of hours, The precision was 10-15%, The a ddition of 5 mu g g(-1) of Na (as NaNO3) to the standard solutions imp roved the signal intensities and reduced the curvature of the calibrat ion curves, The influence of CHF3 was investigated but subsequently ab andoned owing to a general increase not only of the signals but also o f the background.