Abstract
Single aerosol particles were analyzed in the ambient air of the center of Shanghai by scanning proton microprobe to obtain characteristic X-ray spectra (micro-PIXE) which were considered to be the fingerprints of these aerosol particles. The origin of the lead-containing particles was identified by the combination of the micro-ME spectra with pattern recognition technique. It was found that the most of the lead-containing particles were derived from vehicle exhaust, coal combustion and soil dust.