Elemental analysis in house dust using handheld X-ray fluorescence

Includes bibliographical references (p. 52-58).House dust has been identified as a repository for many environmental pollutants, and these may arise from internal sources or be transported from external sources. Of particular interests in house dust are chemicals such as heavy metals and other non-metal elements that pose potential harm to human health. These chemicals are particularly harmful to the health of children. They have greater exposure to house dust and are more susceptible to the harmful effects of heavy metals. Typical analytical methods require analysis in the laboratory through laborious and expensive measures. In the present study, an easy and realtime analytical method was developed for trace elements in house dust, measured by a handheld energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence Analyzer (XRF). The concentration values of elements were compared with values from same dust sample previously measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS). Measurement was made on house dust acquired by previous studies. In this study, 1.62 grams of house dust was the minimum weight, and the handheld XRF was sensitive enough to detect a total number of fourteen elements (Pb, Mo, Ni, Cr, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Zr, Ag, Cd, Sn, Ba, and Hg), as compared to twenty-five elements detected by ICP-MS. After excluding outliers, data from the handheld XRF yielded a good prediction of concentration for the elements Fe, Pb, Mn and Zn, with regression R?? values of 0.86, 0.83, 0.80 and 0.74, respectively as compared with measurement made by ICP-MS. A moderate relationship between XRF and ICP-MS was found for Co and Cu, with regression R?? values of 0.56 and 0.52, respectively. The lowest correlation between XRF and ICP-MS was observed for Ni, Sn, Cr, Sb, Mo and Cd. In conclusion, data from this study indicates that a hand held XRF may serve as a useful and cost-effective analytical method for Fe, Pb, Mn, Zn, Co and Cu measurements in house dust. From a public health perspective, this provides a better picture for health risk assessment