On-site determination of leaded paint in houses is important for minimizing the costs of renovations. A simple
fiber-optic probe suitable for remote elemental analysis
using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy has been
developed for this purpose and is used to determine the
lead concentration in samples of dry paint. Optical
fibers
transport the laser pulse to the sample and transfer the
emission signal to the spectrometer. The use of
separate
excitation and collection fibers allows coupling of the
probe to a conventional spectrometer using simple optics.
The measurement takes less than 1 min to perform,
requires no sample preparation, and can be made through
overlayers of non-lead-containing paint. The limit of
detection is 0.014% Pb in latex paint, on a dry weight
basis, with relative sample standard deviations of
5−10%.
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