External particle-induced X-ray emission analysis of medicinal plant leaves and fly ash

Abstract

The leaves of Acacia and Eucalyptus collected from the Ropar thermal power plant region and fly ash collected from same power plant were studied to find the elemental concentration of the samples. Sixteen elements namely K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Rb, Sr and Pb were estimated in these samples. Among the elements detected, Ca was present in high concentration in the leaves of Acacia and Eucalyptus whereas high percentage of Fe was found in fly ash. As per the data obtained from the study of the fly ash samples using the external PIXE technique, most of the elements detected were present in high concentration and only elements like K, Ti and As were present in trace level. The concentration of elements like Ca, Mn and Sr were found to be high in the studied leaf samples. © 2014 American Scientific Publishers All rights reserved.