This part of ISO 16232 describes a method for determining the nature of contaminant particles by identifying their elemental chemical composition using energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) in combination with a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The contaminant particles are extracted from automotive parts or components and deposited on the surface of a membrane filter. In addition to the number and size of particles as described in ISO 16232-7, this measurement gives the elemental composition of the particles analysed. This information can be used to classify the particles into likely material groups 1). This method cannot determine the nature of organic material 2). The analyses can either be carried out manually or fully automatically, provided the appropriate equipment is available.