Elemental screening of heavy metal aerosols by laser-induced plasma spectroscopy (LIPS)

To provide quasi-on-line information on the elemental chemical composition of heavy metal aerosols, Laser-Induced Plasma Spectroscopy (LIPS) is employed. The major objective of this work is to develop a transportable and low cost sensor system for an on-site analysis of aerosol filter samples. The presented system is based on a laser unit and a detector unit including the spectrometer with a 0.275 m Czerny-Turner-spectrometer and a gateable intensified CCD-camera. Both units are connected to a miniaturized sensor head via fibreoptics. A laser plasma is created by focusing the light transmitted through the fibre directly on the surface of a glass fibre filter. Preliminary investigations background limitations due to blank filters and heavy metal aerosol loaded filters are given.