Characterization of different biomaterials for biomonitoring the atmospheric pollution

Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis coupled with the Inductively Coupled argon Plasma - Atomic Emission Spectroscopy, has been used to evaluate non destructively as many as 25 minor and trace elements in different vegetal materials to be considered as biomaterials useful for atmospheric aerosol sampling. For quantitative evaluations, some reference materials prepared by an Inter-Institutes Committee (CII) and analyzed in an intercomparison campaign, have been used. Strong attention has been devoted to the quantification of uncommon elements, important to establish the sensitivity of the employed method and the homogeneity of the sampling.