An isotopic ratio tracer technique

Brookhaven National Laboratory has recently investigated the feasibility of utilizing naturally-occurring differences in the stable isotopes of sulfur as a means of identifying SO2 and sulfates with the major sources from which they originate. This technique involves sampling of the SO2 from the atmosphere by a chemically treated filter, a series of chemical conversions and finally determination of the isotopic ratios in a mass spectrometer. The details of this tracer system and its initial field results are summarized. (author)