XRF scanners as a quick screening tool for detecting toxic pollutant elements in sediments from Marín harbour in the Ría de Pontevedra (NW Spain)

摘要: X-ray fluorescence scanners, such as the Itrax™ Core Scanner (Itrax) (Cox Analytical Systems, Molndal, Sweden), provide high-resolution geochemical data within several hours. However, semi-quantitative nature of these analysers has hampered their use to study pollution. This explores Itrax’s capabilities detect trace metals, Hg and Cd, in Ria de Pontevedra harbour (NW Spain). A set Itrax detection levels were proposed for each metal after comparison with quantitative measurements obtained from Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES) Vapour Atomic Absorption (CVAAS) analyses. These a sequential extraction used evaluate pollutant bioavailability determine pollution exhibiting The reliability inc/coh Br/Cl ratios assess total organic matter variability was also evaluated. results indicated that is an efficient fast option monitor contamination, thereby avoiding laborious discrete analyses reducing analytical cost time.