Traffic-related elements in airborne particulate matter

This review covers the investigations done over the last few years to quantify key traffic-related elements, namely, Pb, Pd, Pt, Rh, and Sb in atmospheric aerosols. From this standpoint, the role played by analytical techniques as diverse as electrothermal atomization atomic absorption spectrometry (ET-AAS), total reflection X-ray fluorescence (TXRF) spectrometry, and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) is also surveyed as a substantial amount of research is presently being performed to further improve the instrumental approach. In their turn, neutron activation analysis (NAA) and particle-induced X-ray emission (PIXE) are nuclear techniques that were and are employed in this context. The application of ICP-MS for fractionation studies based on the separation of particles according to their aerodynamic diameter and the use of chemical extraction for metal partitioning in airborne particulate matter and their speciation analysis are also discussed. This survey contains 91 references and covers primarily the literature published over the last decade.