title: TXRF analysis of soils and sediments to assess environmental contamination.
abstract: Total reflection x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (TXRF) is proposed for the elemental chemical analysis of crustal environmental samples, such as sediments and soils. A comparative study of TXRF with respect to flame atomic absorption spectroscopy and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy was performed. Microwave acid digestion and suspension preparation methods are evaluated. A good agreement was found among the results obtained with different spectroscopic techniques and sample preparation methods for Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, and Zn. We demonstrated that TXRF is suitable for the assessment of environmental contamination phenomena, even if the errors for Pb, As, V, and Ba are ingent.
authors.forename: Fabjola
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bilo
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Borgese
authors.forename: Davide
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cazzago
authors.forename: Annalisa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zacco
authors.forename: Elza
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bontempi
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Guarneri
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bernardello
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Attuati
authors.forename: Pranvera
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lazo
authors.forename: Laura E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Depero
mesh_terms: D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D004787:Environmental Pollution; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000032:analysis; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry; D008872:Microwaves; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry*; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D013052:Spectrometry, X-Ray Emission; D013054:Spectrophotometry, Atomic
chemical_list: D019216:Metals, Heavy; D012987:Soil; D012989:Soil Pollutants