ABSTRACT
X-ray diffraction (XRD) is the basis of a unique method of air monitoring; most of the airborne dusts to be monitored are crystalline compounds and therefore give distinctive X-ray diffraction patterns. X-ray powder diffraction is primarily used for inorganic compounds, an area in which elemental analysis has been the traditional method. But elemental analysis is insufficient when different compounds of a given element and even different crystalline forms of one compound may have different health effects. X-ray powder diffraction is not only an excellent tool for identifying any of these substances, but has been used for measuring airborne concentrations of some of them with relative success.
