Emissions and air quality relationships for atmospheric trace metals

Atmospheric particulate matter samples taken in urban and rural locations can be analyzed routinely for more than forty trace elements. With the increasing use of automated X-ray fluorescence and neutron activation analyses (Dzubay, 1977; Cooper, 1973), the cost of trace metals determination in airborne particulate samples has been greatly reduced. As a result, large volumes of data are being acquired that contain considerable chemical resolution, including concentration data on toxic trace elements like lead, arsenic, cadmium and nickel.