Account of an innovative procedure for the assessment of inorganic particles and mineral phases in the PM₁₀

a modus operandi to move on suitable support for morphological, chemical and mineralogical characterization under scanning Electron Microscopy equipped with Energy dispersive spectroscopy (sEM/Eds) of the inorganic component of PM₁₀, collected on depth filters routinely used by the Environmental Protection agencies (in italy a.r.P.a.) for the air quality assessment, is described. The proposed methodology has been tested on six membranes, sampled according to the En 12341/99 procedure, in areas characterized by natural and anthropogenic sources of Particulate Matter. First outcomes prove that the methodology, allowing the morphological-chemical and mineralogical characterization of the particles, may be a useful tool for the Environmental Protection agencies to detect the contribution of the natural background and of the anthropogenic sources to the air pollution.