Distribution of lead in single atmospheric particles

Three independent single particle mass spectrometers measured Pb in individual aerosol particles. These data provide unprecedented sensitivity and statistical significance for the measurement of Pb in single particles. This paper explores the reasons for the frequency of Pb in fine particles now that most gasoline is unleaded. Trace amounts of Pb were found in 5 to 25% of 250 to 3000 nm diameter particles sampled by both aircraft and surface instruments in the eastern and western United States. Over 5% of particles at a mountain site in Switzerland contained Pb. Particles smaller than 100 nm with high Pb content were also observed by an instrument that was only operated in urban areas. Lead was found on all types of particles, including Pb present on biomass burning particles from remote fires. Less common particles with high Pb contents contributed a majority of the total amount of Pb. Single particles with high Pb content often also contained alkali metals, Zn, Cu, Sn, As, and Sb. The association of Pb with Zn and other metals is also found in IMPROVE network filter data from surface sites. Sources of airborne Pb in the United States are reviewed for consistency with these data. The frequent appearance of trace Pb is consistent with widespread emissions of fine Pb particles from combustion sources followed by coagulation with larger particles during long-range transport. Industrial sources that directly emit Pb-rich particles also contribute to the observations. Clean regions of the western United States show some transport of Pb from Asia but most Pb over the United States comes from North American sources. Resuspension of Pb from soil contaminated by the years of leaded gasoline was not directly apparent

Impact ionization mass spectra of anorthite cosmic dust analogue particles

Anorthite, the Ca-rich end-member of plagioclase feldspar, is a dominant mineral component of the Lunar highlands. Plagioclase feldspar is also found in comets, meteorites and stony asteroids. It is therefore expected to contribute to the population of interplanetary (and circumplanetary) dust grains within the solar system. After coating micron- and submicron-sized grains of Anorthite with a conductive layer of Platinum, the mineral was successfully accelerated to hypervelocity speeds in the Max Planck Institut für Kernphysik’s Van de Graaff accelerator. We present impact ionization mass spectra generated following the impacts of anorthite grains with a prototype mass spectrometer (the Large Area Mass Analyser, LAMA) designed for use in space, and discuss the behavior of the spectra with increasing impact energy. Correlation analysis is used to identify the compositions and sources of cations present in the spectra, enabling the identification of several molecular cations (e.g., CaAlO2, CaSiO2, Ca2AlO3/CaAlSi2O2) which identify anorthite as the progenitor bulk grain material

Analysis concepts of aerosols by on-line aerosol mass spectrometry.

It is known that aerosols have an impact on climate, air quality and health. To better characterize these effects, the knowledge of the aerosol particle properties, such as size and chemical composition, at the individual level is needed. Toward this purpose, a Single Particle Aerosol Laser Mass Spectrometer (SPALMS) has been designed and developed to characterize in details the organic fraction of particles. The instrument samples the aerosol with a nozzle system and sizes particles individually by laser velocimetry. The single particle constituents are then volatilized (desorption) and ionized (ionization) by laser. The resulting cations and anions are analyzed with a bipolar time-of-flight mass spectrometer. The resulting mass spectra provide a “fingerprint” of the particle composition. Thus the SPALMS instrument evaluates the mixing state, external versus internal, of the aerosol and allows the investigation of the chemical composition size dependency of the particles. The desorption and ionization steps are critical to obtain a good qualitative chemical analysis of the particle. Indeed many processes take place during these steps which fragment and alter the initial molecules in the particle. The simultaneous desorption and ionization with a single laser (337 nm) combined with a bipolar mass spectrometer is well suited for the analysis of mineral particles. On the other hand, organics in particles are better analyzed by operating first the constituents desorption with an infra-red laser (10.6 micrometers) and then the ionization shortly after with an ultra-violet laser (248 nm). Indeed molecules are softly ionized via a SPI or REMPI process. In this manner the resulting mass spectra are more representative of the particle composition since organics are less fragmented. As the SPALMS instrument involves many different measurement steps based of very different principles, it is equipped with many data acquisition devices (up to 12 channels) to record the corresponding information. By combining these data together, it is possible to improve the reliability of the measurements and to infer additional particle properties such as optical diameter and density

Epicocconone story, from natural product to TPA protein fluorescent marker

International audienc

L'extrasystolie auriculaire. Extrasystoles isolees. Extrasystolie en salves.

Diss. Lyon.OPLADEN-RUG0

Position des juifs dans le monde et particulièrement en France et en Allemagne dans la société, les lettres, les arts, les sciences et l'enseignement universitaire

par [Jean Pierre] GallavardinAus: Revue du Lyonnais ; 186