Elemental composition of size-fractionated urban aerosol collected in Florence, Italy;: preliminary results

An extensive investigation is in progress aiming at the characterisation of the air particulate composition in Florence, We present here the preliminary results concerning the analysis of size-fractionated aerosol samples taken by two-stage streaker samplers in two sites characterised by different urban settings (one in a heavy trams area, oils in a green area). The sampling period (21 January-22 February) includes two days during which the Municipality of Florence has banned the circulation of non-catalytic ears, due to the increase of NO: above the "recommended safety values", Hourly concentrations of 20 elements from Na to Pb were determined using the external beam PIXE facility of the I.N.F,N. Van dr Graaff accelerator at the Physics Department of the Florence University. Factor analysis on the data set confirms that traffic is the main source of atmospheric pollution in Florence, The ball of non-catalytic cars seems to have produced no effect on the concentration of detected elements (in particular Pb and Br), (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B,V. All rights reserved.