Monitoring of chromium species and 11 selected metals in emission and immission of airborne environment

Monitoring of chromium species as hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) and the determination of the total chromium concentration as well as the concentration of 11 selected metals (Al, Ca, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sb, Zn) in industrial emission of a foundry and immission studies of the nearby airborne environment were carried out. The samples were taken as industrial exhaust directly by the outlet and as airborne sample in the environment with distances between some hundred meters and 2 km from the industrial factory. Wherefore two methods of sampling, sample pre-treatment and mass spectrometric measurement were developed and applied. With respect to different sampling duration different volumes of air were sampled and analysed. For the determination of Cr(VI) sampling in impingers (filled with carbonate-buffer) was used. A procedure of selective complex forming and extraction was developed and measured by double focussing sector field inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-SFMS). For the determination of the total chromium concentration as well as of 11 metals sampling was done by using quartz-filters. After microwave digestion in the medium of aqua regia the samples were analysed by quadrupole inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-QMS). The maximum concentration of Cr(VI)-species in emission samples was determined as 180 ng/m³ air which is about 2% of total Cr. The lowest concentration of Cr(VI)-species in immission was determined as 0.5 ng/m³ air.