PIXE-PILE analysis of aerosol composition in urban Italian environments

Fine particulate has become one of the biggest concerns in Italian cities pollution; the study of its composition is a powerful tool to evaluate the effects on health and identify pollution sources. PIXE is an established technique for particulate analysis (being multi-elemental, sensitive, fast, non-destructive and requiring no sample preparations) and has been extensively used, in combination with other IBA techniques, for particulate characterization in Italian urban environments. Here we report the preliminary results on the analysis of the aerosol collected, by two-stage continuous streaker samplers, in two Italian cities, Florence and Milan, during July 2001. Elemental concentrations have been extracted in the fine and coarse fractions, with hourly resolution, by PIXE-PIGE analysis, performed at the 3 MeV external proton beam INFN facility at the University of Florence.