title: Application of laser ablation ICP-MS and traditional techniques to the study of black crusts on building stones: a new methodological approach.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In this work, we propose an innovative application of laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) as a methodological approach for the chemical characterisation of black crusts on stone monuments, associated with traditional micro-morphological (optical and scanning electron microscopy) and infrared spectroscopic techniques (FTIR).
  
  
  METHODS
  This new approach was tested on black crusts developing on two marble substrates, one, the columns of the San Cosimato cloister in Rome, and the other, a sculpture representing an angel, located in Pessano con Bornago, a small industrial town near Milan.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The main aim of this study was to develop and test the reliability of the LA-ICP-MS analytical method on black crusts and to explore the idea that trace element concentrations in black crusts can be applied to investigate their origin and the relations between concentrations of polluting elements in black crusts and environmental conditions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results obtained by applying traditional techniques find considerable support in the innovative method used here, which could determine the concentrations of a large number of trace elements (including heavy metals) in the black crusts examined, and thus could also be used as a reliable indicator of environmental pollution.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università della Calabria, Cubo 12B, 87036, Arcavacata di Rende (CS), Italy. d.barca@unical.it
authors.forename: Donatella
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Barca
authors.forename: Cristina Maria
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Belfiore
authors.forename: Gino Mirocle
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Crisci
authors.forename: Mauro Francesco
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: La Russa
authors.forename: Antonino
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pezzino
authors.forename: Silvestro Antonio
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Ruffolo
mesh_terms: D003252:Construction Materials / Q000032:analysis*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry*; D055593:Geological Phenomena; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D014131:Trace Elements / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D014131:Trace Elements
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