Identification of Airborne Particles

Abstract

Sampling and identification of particles suspended in the air are important for many fields of study of the atmosphere of the earth. Techniques of chemical micrurgy have been extensively applied by Cadle and associates in important studies of air pollution and related problems in the applied chemistry and physics of the atmosphere. These techniques were particularly useful in the determination of the composition of airborne particles collected from smog during investigations of the smog problem in the County of Los Angeles (47, 48). In the investigation of air pollution problems of Los Angeles County, the use of these micromanipulative techniques and other microscopic techniques was not limited to the investigation of substances collected from the atmosphere, but was also applied to the study of gasoline engine exhaust gases (48) to discover what substances were introduced into the atmosphere from this important source.