Platinum levels in urban soils from Palermo (Italy); Analytical method using voltammetry

A fast accumulation of platinum in the environmental and biological matrices was observed in the last years and concern arose about potential environmental and health risks. The toxicity of platinum species has been investigated in various studies, some of their, especially the chlorinated ones, are very toxic and allergenic. Information of the acute toxicity of some Pt-chlorinated salts and evidence of DNA damage due to Pt exposure have been observed both in vitro and in vivo. Taking into account what is written above, the development of reliable analytic methods to measure very low Pt concentrations is required. In this work was developed a reliable method for the determination of Pt in soils because of inherent difficulties in using conventional techniques, in articular, the ICP-OES technique. A determination of Pt using ICP-MS, for instance, is problematic, due to interfering signals. Differential pulse voltammetry (DPV/a) was employed by us for the determination of platinum in soils collected in Palermo area. Possible interferences by other environmental metals have been also evaluated. All samples show concentrations of Pt above average upper crust values; concentrations were found in the ranges 0.6–2240 μ/kg d.w. We carried out linear regression analysis between total Pt concentrations in soils obtained in this work and Pt concentrations in leaves of Nerium oleander measured in previous researches. The high correlation coefficient obtained confirms the geographical distribution of the considered pollutant in the Palermo area.