Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T12:43:45.305Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Evaluation of computer-controlled SEM in the study of metal-contaminated soils

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2018

H. W. Langmi  and
J. Watt
H. W. Langmi*
Affiliation:
Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London SW7 2BP, UK
J. Watt
Affiliation:
Middlesex University, Bounds Green Road, London N11, UK
*
E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Computer-controlled scanning electron microscopy (CCSEM) has been assessed for the determination of form and size distribution of heavy metals in urban contaminated soils. Metal distributions within individual particles were determined using X-ray element mapping. The sites selected for study were (1) around a landfill site, previously a colliery in Wolverhampton, UK and (2) a private garden adjacent to a railway in Nottingham, UK. Backscattered thresholding techniques were used to isolate the Pb-containing categories. The classification results for both Wolverhampton and Nottingham soils were generally similar but more Pb-containing classes were observed for the Nottingham samples when a comparison was made between results of the same size fractions. However, difficulties with the technique arose when particles showing chemically similar weathering crusts were assigned to the same class, despite having different internal compositions. The CCSEM data therefore need to be interpreted with caution and their application limited to situations in which particle internal complexity is not an issue.

Keywords

CCSEMPb-contaminationsoilNottinghamWolverhamptonUK.
Type
Research Article
Information
Mineralogical Magazine , Volume 67 , Issue 2 , April 2003 , pp. 219 - 231
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2003

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

Department of Metallurgy and Material Science, The University of Birmingham, Elms Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK

References

Anderson, J.R., Buseck, P.R., Saucy, D.A. and Pacyna, J.M. (1992) Characterization of individual fine- fraction particles from the Arctic aerosol at Spitsbergen, May—June 1987. Atmospheric Environment Part A — general Topics, 26, 1747—1762.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, J.R., Buseck, P.R., Patterson, T.L. and Arimoto, R. (1996) Characterization of the Bermuda tropospheric aerosol by combined individual-particle and bulk-aerosol analysis. Atmospheric Environment, 30, 319—338.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cotter-Howells, J. (1996) Lead phosphate formation in soils. Environmental Pollution, 93, 9—10.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cotter-Howells, J. and Thornton, I. (1991) Sources and pathways of environmental lead to children in a Derbyshire mining village. Environmental Geochemistry and Health, 13, 127—135.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davis, A., Ruby, M.V. and Bergstrom, P.D. (1992) Bioavailability of arsenic and lead in soils from the Butte, Montana, mining district. Environmental Science and Technology, 26, 461—468.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Bock, L.A., Van Malderen, H. and Van Grieken, R.E. (1994) Individual aerosol particle composition variations in air masses crossing the North Sea. Environmental Science and Technology, 28, 1513—1520.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hunt, A., Johnson, D.L., Watt, J.M. and Thornton, I. (1992) Characterising the sources of lead in house dust by automated scanning electron microscopy. Environmental Science and Technology, 26, 1513—1523.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hunt, A., Johnson, D.L., Thornton, I. and Watt, J.M. (1993) Apportioning the sources of lead in house dust in the London borough of Richmond, England. The Science of the Total Environment, 138, 183—206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jambers, W. and Van Grieken, R. (1997) Single particle characterization of inorganic suspension in Lake Baikal, Siberia. Environmental Science and Technology, 31, 1525—1533.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jambers, W., Smekens, A., Van Grieken, R., Shevchenko, V. and Gordeev, V. (1997) Characterisation of particulate matter from the kara Sea using electron probe X-ray micro analysis. Colloids and Surfaces A — Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects, 120, 61—75.Google Scholar
Katrinak, K.A., Anderson, J.R. and Buseck, P.R. (1995) Individual particle types in the aerosol of Phoenix, Arizona. Environmental Science and Technology, 29, 321—329.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kindratenko, V.V., Van Espen, P.J.M., Treiger, B.A. and Van Grieken, R.E. (1994) Fractal dimension classification of aerosol particles by computer- controlled scanning electron microscopy. Environmental Science and Technology, 28, 2197—2202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ruby, M.V., Davis, A., Kempton, J.H., Drexier, J.W. and Bergstrom, P.D. (1992) Lead bioavailability: Dissolution kinetics under stimulated gastric conditions. Environmental Science and Technology, 26, 1242—1248.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sitzmann, B., Kendall, M., Watt, J. and Williams, I. (1999) Characterisation of airborne particles in London by computer-controlled scanning electron microscopy. The Science of the Total Environment , 241,63—73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Malderen, H., Rojas, C. and Van Grieken, R. (1992) Characterization of individual giant aerosol particles above the North Sea. Environmental Science and Technology, 26, 750—756.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Malderen, H., Van Grieken, R., Khodzher, T., Obolkin, V. and Potemkin, V. (1996a)) Composition of individual aerosol particles above lake Baikal, Siberia. Atmospheric Environment, 30, 1453—1465.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Malderen, H., Van Grieken, R., Bufetov, N.V. and Koutzenogii, K.P. (1996b)) Chemical characterisation of individual aerosol particles in central Siberia. Environmental Science and Technology, 30, 312—321.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watt, J. (1990) Automated feature analysis in the scanning electron microscope. Microscopy and Analysis, 15, 25—28.Google Scholar
Watt, J. (1998) Automated characterisation of individual carbonaceous fly ash particle by computer controlled scanning electron microscopy: analytical methods and critical review of alternative techniques. Water, Air and Soil Pollution, 106, 309—327.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watt, J.M. and Johnson, D.L. (1987) Characterisation of dust by scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Pp. 85—96 in: Lead in the Home Environment (Thornton, I. and Culbard, E., editors). Science Reviews Ltd., London, UK.Google Scholar