Determination of platinum in urine and airborne particulate matter from Budapest and Vienna

Urine samples taken from 100 adults living in the city centres of the two capitals were analysed by the same inductively coupled plasma quadrupole mass spectrometer following their 10-fold dilution with bidistilled water. The mean concentration values of platinum related to creatinine were about three times higher in the Hungarian samples than in the Austrian ones. Six particulate matter samples were collected by a Gent-type two-stage sampler in the districts of the two capitals, which have high traffic density. The polycarbonate filters containing the fine (d<2 mu m) and the coarse (d=2-10 mu m) fractions were digested in a microwave assisted digestion system and analysed by the same high-resolution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer. The respirable, fine fractions of aerosols collected in Budapest contained approximately twice as much platinum than the aerosols from Vienna. However, the coarse fraction showed a contrary picture, with five times higher Pt concentration in the samples collected in Vienna. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.