Collection and Enrichment of Airborne Dust Samples Using the Thermal Shrinkage of a Plastic Sheet.

—Its application to sample preparation for XRF and LA-ICP-MS analysis—

Abstract

A new sample preparation method for airborne particulate matter in workplace was studied. The samples were collected on plastic sheets using a cascade impactor. After the collection, each sample loading sheet was then heated to 140°C to bring about thermal shrinkage, thereby concentrating the surface particles. This method was applied to the simulated welding fume samples using XRF and LA-ICP-MS. With both these methods, we obtained signals 2.4 to 7.5 times greater comparing to that without thermal shrinkage.