Evaluation of uncertainties measurement in EDXRF for air filter analysis

Abstract

Abstract Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) is one of the nuclear analytical techniques that has been widely used for elemental analysis, especially for air filter analysis. EDXRF Epsilon 5 has been installed in BATAN Bandung laboratory, Indonesia. EDXRF Epsilon 5 is an analytical instrument that is used to determine trace elements in many kinds of materials, especially in air filter samples. Measurement conditions have to be set up to determine several elements. Uncertainty evaluation was different according to the instrument used in each laboratory. This activity is aimed to calculate and evaluate the uncertainty measurement associated with EDXRF Epsilon 5 for air filter analysis. Evaluation of uncertainties measurement in EDXRF Epsilon 5 was carried out following the guides to express uncertainty: JCGM 100:2008 and EURACHEM. The uncertainty evaluation focused on 10 elements: Na, Si, S, K, Ca, Ti, Fe, Zn, Br, and Pb that generally existed in airborne particulate samples. The uncertainties results for 10 selected elements measured with Epsilon 5 were in a good correlation, with % relative uncertainty were ranged from 2% to 32%.