Characterization of the occupational exposure and air transported particles using the techniques of PIXE 252Cf PMDS and alpha spectrometry

The risk for human health due to exposure to aerosols depends on the intake pattern, the mass concentration and the speciation of the elements present in airborne particles. In this work PDMS (Plasma Desorption Mass Spectrometry) was used as complementary technique to the PIXE (Particle Induced X ray Emission) technique to characterize aerosols samples collected in the environment. The PIXE technique allows the identification of the elements present in the sample and to determine their mass concentrations. The mass spectrometry (PDMS) was used to identify the speciation of these elements present in the samples. The aerosol samples were collected using a six stage cascade impactor in three sites. The Mass Median Aerodynamic Diameter (MMAD) measured indicated that the airborne particulate were in the fine fraction of the aerosols. The theoretical uranium concentration in urine samples using ICRP lung model parameters suggest that the elemental mass concentration in respirable fraction of aerosol and the chemical speciation are important factors to determine the uranium concentration in urine and that the determination of specific solubility parameters for each compound is the most important factor to calculate the uranium concentration in urine. PIXE allows to identify and quantify the elements heavier than Na (Z=11) while PDMS allows to identify the organic and inorganic compounds present in the samples. As these techniques are used as complementary techniques they provide important information about the aerosols characterization. (author)