Harmful elements (Pb, Se, Cd, etc.) in the soil samples were measured by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) method. We investigated the influence of the thickness of soil layer, the grain size of soils, and the water content in soils on XRF intensity. Since high-energy XRF such as Cd K was detected in deep inside of soils, a thickness of 10 mm was recommended. The soil sample with a small grain size gave...

Grazing-exit x-ray fluorescence (GE-XRF) and micro x-ray fluorescence (micro-XRF) methods were applied to chemical microchips as a detection method. Since an energy-dispersive x-ray detector was used, the simultaneous detection of multiple elements was possible. An analyzing region was especially designed on the microchip so that a sample solution could be dried and concentrated in a suitable a...

Enhancement of XRF intensity was investigated by using an Au coated glass-capillary. Au was electroplated on an inner wall of the glass-capillary with a thickness of 100 nm. The Au coated glass-capillary was attached to a micro focus x-ray tube. The XRF intensity from the pure metal samples was measured by a silicon drift x-ray detector. It was confirmed that the intensity of XRF was enhanced b...

Micro-X-ray fluorescence (micro-XRF) analysis is a promising method for determining elemental distributions of small regions. Moreover, a recent trend in micro-XRF is 3D elemental analysis by using confocal micro-XRF instruments combined with two polycapillary x-ray lenses. Our research group has been developed confocal micro-XRF instruments by using polycapillary x-ray lenses, and its spatial ...

X-ray fluorescence (XRF), a rapid, noninvasive, low-radiation-dose method of measuring bone lead content, has emerged as a promising tool for providing an integrated estimate of low-level lead accumulation in epidemiological studies. Our group has settled on an XRF instrument that utilizes K X-rays (K-XRF) and normalizes the measurement to bone calcium. The unit of measurement provided is in mi...

Bone lead measurements can assess long-term lead dosimetry because the residence time of lead in bone is long. Bone lead measurements thus complement blood and plasma lead measurements, which reflect more short-term exposure. Although the noninvasive, in vivo measurement of lead in bone by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) has been under development since the 1970s, its use is still largely confined to ...

Thirteen arsenous acid samples of known origins and refining methods were collected. Each sample was subjected to quantitative analysis of any impurity elements present using synchrotron radiation X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (SR-XRF) and inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). The trace elements selected were Sn, Sb and Bi for the reasons that they were considered...

Solid/liquid interfaces are important locations for various chemical reactions, such as electrode chemical reactions and metal corrosions. Conventional surface analytical methods, such as XPS and SEM-EDS, have been applied to solid materials after being removed from the liquid phase. These methods do not involve direct observation, although useful information is available. It is important to di...

The purposes of this study are: (1) to determine whether proficiency analytical test (PAT) materials from the American Industrial Hygiene Association can be used to provide quality data for portable X-ray fluorescence analysis (XRF) of lead in dust wipe surface samples; (2) to provide data to determine whether the on-site analysis of field dust wipe samples by XRF and the laboratory method of i...

An artificial neural network approach was used for the analysis of low-resolution XRF spectra. Instead of peak analysis and fitting the experimental results to a mathematical function as used by the conventional algorithms, the artificial neural network method takes the spectrum as a whole, comparing its shape with the patterns learned during the training period of the network. This method was ...