For a long time, environmental experts have regarded cadmium as a toxic heavy metal. It was used in polymers predominantly as a stabilizer or as a color pigment. Over the years, sufficient replacement materials have been found for these applications. The use of cadmium is no longer required and is also not desirable due to the possible release during disposal.
A similar situation applies for the elements lead (stabilizer in PVC and also a pigment), mercury (pigments), and hexavalent chromium (pigments, e.g. lead chromate). Currently, there are restrictions in force for packaging materials for the four elements mentioned above.
This XRF application report shows that the SPECTRO XEPOS ED-XRF analyzer, with its unique combination of excitation and high-resolution detector, has the necessary capability for analyzing these elements.
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