Author(s)

A. Adriaens, A. D’Alessandro, F. Lucarelli, P. A. Mandò, G. B. Marcazzan, S. Nava, P. Prati, G. Valli, R. Van Ham, R. Vecchi & A. Zucchiatti

Abstract

The composition of particulate matter in the atmosphere of four major Italian towns (Florence, Genoa, Milan and Naples) has been studied with the extended application) of Ion Beam Analysis. The aerosol sampling campaign has been contemporarily carried out in urban zones characterised by medium-heavy traffic conditions, during the first weeks of year 2001. We used two-stage continuous streaker samplers which provide the separation of the particulate matter in the fractions PM2.5 and PM10. Characterisation of particulate has been performed with PIXE, in the two fractions, TOF-SIMS (Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy) and optical analyses. The 3 MeV proton beam of the INFN accelerator facility at the University of Florence was used for PIXE hourly elemental concentrations, while the attenuation of a laser beam through the samples gave an estimate of the total aerosol mass. SIMS analyses have been performed at the University of Antwerp, with a Cameca ION-TOF IV device. 1 Introduction In the last years the amount of data produced by health authorities and research institutes, on the aerosol composition in Italian urban areas, is rapidly increasing, but differences in the used techniques often make their comparison extremely difficult. The aim of our investigation is to ‘photograph’ the aerosol characteristics in four large Italian towns, by a uniform methodological

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