Trace elements in suspended particles in a city near the large scale copper mine in the North of Chile

The purpose of this paper is to perform a gravitational and multielemental analysis by the PIXE technique (Particle Induced X-Ray Emission) on particles inhaled in Calama city, located 16 km south of Chuquicamata, a locality in the North of Chile, where the largest open pit copper mine in the world is located. The inhaled particles were collected by separating them into a coarse and fine fraction with an SFU low volume type sampler (Stacked Filter Unit) between November 1990 and May 1991. The inhaled concentration of particles exceeds by an average of 32% the standard given by EPA, being the coarse aerosols being 75% higher than the fine aerosols. The concentrations of elements K, Fe and As, in both the fine and coarse fractions are higher in relation to those found in Antofagasta, a city located 200 km south-west of Calama, on the coast. There is a remarkable enrichment of S in comparison with the ground source. As opposed to the ground source, Cu, As, Zn and Ti are also present.