Determination of metals in thoracic fraction of ambient air particulate matter

The present work deals with the optimization and validation of a method for the quantitative simultaneous ICP determination of metals in ambient air particulate matter. The attention has been focused on the thoracic fraction (PM10) and twelve different metals were chosen on the basis of their toxicity and of their possible use as chemical tracers. The microwave acidic digestion of the samples has been performed in the presence of different reagents and under different conditions and particular attention has been paid to the optimization of the whole analytical procedure and to the evaluation of accuracy and precision related to the single operative steps. The interferences due to the reagents and to the sampling supports have also been evaluated. In addition, the analytical procedure has been checked by examining the equivalence of results related to parallel sampled filters pairs.