Comparing PIXE and XRF Analysis of Pb in Road Dust

Ernest N. Morial New Orleans Convention Center 

Particle-Induced X-Ray Emission (PIXE) spectroscopy and X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) are non-destructive methods to quantify elemental concentrations in a sample. A total of 382 road dust samples from northern Lake County (NLC), Indiana, USA were analyzed for lead (Pb) with PIXE at the University of Notre Dame, before being sent to Purdue University for XRF analysis. We completed a comparison of results obtained by these two analytical methods. This research will help us to understand how different non-destructive analytical methods work in dust and soils analyses.

E. Belzer, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA
T. Grier, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
A. Specht, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
G. Peaslee, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA
E. Wells, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA 

The authors acknowledge Kimmie Gordon, Suzanne Chick, Susan Duncan, David Dabertin, Grace TaFolla, Tim DaSilva, Lisa Vallee and Juan Andrade for their service on the Northern Lake County Environmental Partnership (NLCEP) Community Advisory Board. The authors acknowledge Sayam Abu Sayed, Marc Soliman, Abigail Troutt, and Jason Collins, Leah Zimmer and Dr. Gunnar Brown for sample analysis. 

Asbestos, lead, and dust

Environmental protection and monitoring

Labs – Health & Safety, Testing