It would appear that the statistical treatment employed herein is capable of defining the primary sources that contribute to roadway dust and of achieving semiquantitative estimates of those anthropogenic sources of primary environmental significance. The resolving power of the analysis is, however, insufficient to distinguish between sources that produce particulate matter having closely similar physical characteristics. Better definition of test vectors and/or more extensive sample fractionation is suggested as a means of improving resolving power. Quantitative assessment of the major source components is generally poor, and it is clear that analytical data for bulk matrix elements are necessary for improved quantitation.Finally, it must be stressed that, while statistical analysis provides a more detailed and more quantitative description of the data, graphical presentation of the mass and concentration distributions of individual elements in a fractionated particulate sample is frequently more useful in assigning physical significance. It is strongly recommended, therefore, that both interpretive approaches be employed in an interactive configuration.
AcknowledgmentWe wish to thank the operating staff of the Illinois Advanced TRIGA Reactor facility for their help in making the irradiations and the Illinois State Geological Survey for access to their counting equipment on which most of the reported analyses were performed.
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