X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometry for Multielement Analysis of Airborne Particulate and Biological Material

X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry consists of irradiating several cm² of a preferably flat solid or liquid specimen with X-rays from a suitable source so as to excite the characteristic X-ray lines of the elements in the specimen. Each line energy (or wavelength*) is characteristic of the element atomic number, and the line intensity is proportional to element concentration.