Inorganic Element Impurities of PM_2.5 Sampling Filters

Abstract

The inorganic element composition of 25 filter products for PM_2.5 sampling was determined by acid digestion and ICP-MS. The Filter materials were PTFE, quartz fiber, cellulose, and polycarbonate. Each filter’s method blank (MBlk) and method quantify limit (MQL) were calculated and compared with the target quantify limit (TQL) for the PM_2.5 inorganic element analysis by the Ministry of the Environment, Japan. Depending on the products, the PTFE filters showed a higher MBlk than TQL for Ca, Ti, Fe, Sb, and Ta. The higher MBlk than TQL involved 15 elements for the quartz fiber filters, Ca for the cellulose filters, and Cr for the polycarbonate filters. Additional elements with a higher MBlk than TQL depending on products were 6 for the quartz fiber filters, 8 for the cellulose filters, and 1 for the polycarbonate filters. Information in this report would be valuable for an operator’s choice of the PM_2.5 sampling filters. It would also lead to quality improvement of the PM_2.5 inorganic element analysis.