HR: 17:00h
AN: B12F-05 INVITED     [PDF]
TI: Measuring Mercury and Other Elemental Components in Tree Rings Using Particle Induced X-Ray Emission
AU: * Hollerman, W A
EM: hollerman@louisiana.edu
AF: Department of Physics University of Louisiana at Lafayette, P.O. Box 44210, Lafayette, LA 70504 United States
AU: Gillan, C
EM: hollerman@louisiana.edu
AF: Department of Physics University of Louisiana at Lafayette, P.O. Box 44210, Lafayette, LA 70504 United States
AU: Glass, G A
EM: glass@louisiaan.edu
AF: Louisiana Accelerator Center University of Louisiana at Lafayette, P.O. Box 44210, Lafayette, LA 70504 United States
AU: Greco, R R
EM: glass@louisiana.edu
AF: Louisiana Accelerator Center University of Louisiana at Lafayette, P.O. Box 44210, Lafayette, LA 70504 United States
AU: Doyle, T W
EM: tom_doyle@usgs.gov
AF: National Wetlands Research Center U.S. Geological Survey, 700 Cajundome Blvd., Lafayette, LA 70506 United States
AU: Lewis, T E
EM: Lewis.Timothy@epamail.epa.gov
AF: National Center for Environmental Assessment U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 109 T.W. Alexander Dr., Research Triangle Pk, NC 27711 United States
AB: There has been considerable interest in measuring heavy metal pollution, such as mercury, using tree ring analysis. Since 1970, this method has provided a historical snapshot of pollutant concentrations near hazardous waste sites. Traditional methods of analysis have long been used with heavy metal pollutants such as mercury. These methods, such as atomic fluorescence and laser ablation, are sometimes time consuming and expensive to implement. In recent years, ion beam techniques, such as Particle Induced X-Ray Emission (PIXE), has been used to measure pollutant concentrations in tree rings. PIXE is very useful in characterizing samples containing large numbers of elements. Most of the existing research in this area has been completed for low to medium atomic number pollutants, such as titanium, cobalt, nickel, and copper. Due to the reduction of sensitivity, it is often difficult or impossible to use traditional low energy (few MeV) PIXE analysis for pollutants with large atomic numbers. For example, the PIXE detection limit for mercury was recently measured to be about 1 ppm for a spiked Southern Magnolia wood sample. This presentation will compare PIXE and standard chemical concentration results for a variety of wood samples.
DE: 0400 Biogeosciences
DE: 1794 Instruments and techniques
SC: Biogeosciences [B]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting