The contribution of AGN to the X-ray background: the effect of iron features

The contribution of the iron emission line, commonly detected in the X-ray spectra of Seyfert (Sey) galaxies, to the cosmic X-ray background (XRB) spectrum is evaluated in the framework of the XRB synthesis models based on AGN unification schemes. To derive the mean line properties, we have carried out a search in the literature covering a sample of about 70 AGN. When adopting line parameters in agreement with the observations, it turns out that the maximum contribution of the iron line to the XRB is less than 7% at a few keV. This is still below the present uncertainties in the XRB spectrum measurements. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B. V. All rights reserved.