Study of particulate emissions near a steel plant in Genova by continuous sampling and PIXE hourly analysis P. Prati a, * , P. Putti a , A. Zucchiatti a , F. Lucarelli b , P.A. Mand o b a Dipartimento di Fisica and INFN, via Dodecaneso 33, 16146 Genova, Italy b Dipartimento di Fisica and INFN, Largo E. Fermi 2, 50125 Firenze, Italy Abstract The particulate emissions near a large steel plant located in a densely inhabited suburb of the town of Genova (Italy) have been studied for a period of six months. We have used two-stage continuous streaker samplers and subsequent PIXE analysis with hourly resolution, to follow both seasonal and daily trends. The ®rst streaker sampler remained installed very close to the plant cokery and furnaces, while another sampler was moved to dierent locations. Samples have been analysed by PIXE, deducing concentrations for elements from Na to Pb. During part of the campaign, the aerosol fractions with aerodynamic diameter (D ae ) < 2.5 lm (®ne fraction) and with 2.5 < D ae < 10 lm (coarse fraction) have been separately collected. We have measured and analysed about 8500 PIXE spectra: the steel plant emissions have been identi®ed to some extent and resolved from other aerosol sources. Ó 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PACS: 07.88; 82.70.K Keywords: Aerosol; PIXE 1. Introduction Genova, in the Northwest of Italy, lies between the sea and a chain of hills (maximum height: 1000 m) oriented in East-West direction and about 25 km long. Systematic studies of the aerosol composition in the town, based on time-resolved sampling and nuclear analysis [1], started in 1995 [2±4]. They showed that most of the pollution in the town can be ascribed to three major particulate sources: a steel smelter, an oil-®red power plant and the trac [3]. The present activity is addressed to a charac- terisation of the particulate emission near the steel smelter (located in the district of Cornigliano), in terms of elemental concentrations in air. A long aerosol sampling campaign, which lasted from May to December 1997, was aimed at extracting details on the steel plant emission. We collected particulate samples on an hourly basis placing a sampler near the plant; in some periods a second sampler was installed in other three sites in town at a maximum distance of 4 km from the steel smelter. The exposed ®lters were subsequently analysed at Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B 150 (1999) 428±432 * Corresponding author. Tel.: +39-10-353-6439; fax: +39-10- 314-218; e-mail: prati@ge.infn.it 0168-583X/99/$ ± see front matter Ó 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 1 6 8 - 5 8 3 X ( 9 8 ) 0 0 9 8 4 - 7