ISSUANCE SPECTROSCOPY

Author: PÉREZ GONZÁLEZ GUSTAVO.
Year: 2004.
University: AUTÓNOMA DE BARCELONA [www.uab.es].
Place of defense: FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS.
Place of preparation: UNIVERSIDAD AUTÓNOMA DE BARCELONA.

Summary: The Sequential extraction schemes, commonly known as SES, have been widely used to provide information about the availability, mobility and persistence of heavy metals (HMs) derived from various sources of pollution. In terms of risk counseling, mobility and associated availability of HMs, is of particular relevance, since toxicity is directly related to these features. In fact, it is known that the content pseudototal of HMs used as an indicator in the current environmental policies of the EU, does not provide an accurate information on the amounts available for HMs and only represent the worst possible situation, overestimated the risk of a current pollution and ignoring the risk under certain situations. Consequently, there is a need to develop a methodology capable of providing information about the reactivity or mobility d pollutants. In this sense, the SES become a tool evaluator and informative commonly used, which will provide details about the distribution or fraccionación of HMs contaminants in soils and sediments, which is directly related to the prediction of their mobility. Considering the contamination HMs studied along this thesis, the SES has been used to achieve two objectives. The first, seeks to provide added value to the characterization of anthropogenic pollution through the implementation of the SES, while the second focuses on the elucidation of limitations of the SES, such as resorption, or the redistribution of industriousness these, always considering the application on different CRMs. Of the wide variety of SES applied in the present study were selected on BCR-SES and SM & T-SES, given its characteristics of standardization and the availability of certified reference materials (CRMs), which have securities licenses or indicative of the content of metals fraccionables when implementing specific SES. Thus, the CRMs provide validation of the experimental procedure. Once validated methodology, developed new applications from the integration multivariate statistical analysis and geostatistics in with the fraccionación applied to the study of an old mining settlement. The results reveal an overall increase in pollution along the site which promotes mobility and availability of the elements studied. Moreover, the application of geostatistics, has provided obtaining maps of horizontal spatial distribution of pollutants based on mobility, availability or d persistent pollutants. This makes it possible to identify the existence of pockets of contamination and potentially dangerous areas, reducing the sampling area and the economic costs of environmental monitoring as required an environmental impact assessment. In relation to the implementation of the SES and characterization of the environmental impacts of genetic sediment deposited on Highway, the results show contamination anthropogenically favored Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn, while elements such as Cr and Ni show a contribution mainly litogénica . This anthropogenic pollution, has been characterized using different parameters, primarily data d the fraccionación, environmental values guide, the enrichment factors rates lability. These parameters correct factors such as l 8 to variab 715 ilidad geochemistry, which can affect the estimate of the potential environmental impacts resulting from metal pollution. Finally, we have seen the phenomenon of reabsorption and redistribution, some of the main drawbacks of the implementation of the SES. Our results indicate that when using a collection of different matrices geological factors such as the content of carbonate, iron oxides or manganese or organic matter, are the main contributors to the process of reabsorption observed. The most important trend of reabsorption detected in the acid-soluble fraction and fraction oxidizable, being mainly GDP and Cu those elements most likely to padecerlas. However, reabsorption and the availability or mobility of contaminants does not become a real problem. Thus, the application of SES on a wide range of geological s parent becomes a real need to describe and document conditions that may favor the reabsorption and redistribution.

Author: LÓPEZ MORENO CRISTINA.
Year: 2005.
University: MÁLAGA [www.uma.es].
Place of defense: UNIVERSIDAD DE MÁLAGA.
Place of preparation: UNIVERSIDAD DE MÁLAGA.

Summary: Spectrometry of laser induced plasmas (LIBS) is an analytical technique that allows the determination of the elemental composition of any sample in solid, liquid, gas or aerosol. It is a technique miniaturizable that allows remote analysis of samples found in complex environments and difficult to access because it does not require a prior preparation of the sample. This possibility has led to the development of an experimental system that allows for remote analysis of different types of samples and whose versatility is evident in this thesis. First developed a system of laboratory which conducted actions constituted on 12 meters away on samples of environmental interest subject to a large environmental pollution. We depth profiles of pollutants deposited on the surface of samples and a study of the distribution of these pollutants as the topography of the sample, humidity, the location in its original environment, and so on. In a second experiment, and developed a method of transfer can predict what data is obtained at room temperature from data acquired at high temperatures. In this case the transfer method was applied to the analysis of slag and analysis of steel at high temperature to transfer data at room temperature thereby avoiding having to perform a calibration curve with high temperature patterns. With this system instrumentation was done last experiment consisted in the evaluation of the signal LIBS to analyze a sample in remote mobility and with a degree of inclination on the laser. It was demonstrated that this case benefits analysis equipment obtaining satisfactory results of samples for analysis on the move, tilted and at a distance of 10 meters from the analysis system. Subsequently, a system was built experimental transpirable with which reached distances of analysis over the 100 meters. With this team were analyzed for explosive residue deposited on the surface of a vehicle in the form of fingerprints. It conducted a sweep of each footprint and discriminated between organic compounds, organic compounds and organic compounds not explosives. We used the ratio of intensity peaks for processing the data. We also conducted a blind trial for elcual were deposited on the same vehicle 6 fingerprints of unknown compounds and extracted 6 correct results after evaluating the data with the method of the ratio between peak emission. The last chapter deals with the evaluation of miniaturized system for the analysis LIBS. Other highlights include an annex where there is an extensive review of the technology LIBS applied to the analysis of organic compounds.