On the determination of platinum group elements in environmental materials by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and microwave digestion Original Research Article

The interferences from Cd, Cu, Hf, Pb, Sr, Zn, Zr and Y on the inductively coupled plasma quadrupole mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) determination of Pt, Pd, Rh, Ru and Ir in geological (Pt-ore SARM-7, abundance range for platinum metals 0.07–3.74 μg/g) and environmental samples (sediment JSd-2 abundance range for Pt and Pd 0.0167–0.021 μg/g; road dust and plant sample) are evaluated using model solutions, real samples and comparison to inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) results. Pt, Rh, Ru and Ir can be determined usually after introduction of corrections for the interference in all investigated materials though in sediments the direct determination of Pt might be a problem depending on the actual Hf concentrations. The direct determination of Pd (after microwave-assisted acid digestion) is possible in ores using all investigated isotopes (105Pd, 106Pd, 108Pd), in plants using 108Pd and correction for the interferences of Zr, Mo and Cd, and not possible in sediments and road dust. Therefore, we developed a procedure for isolation of Pd using its diethyl-dithio-carabamate (DDTC) complex. The detection limits for Pt, Pd and Ir are 0.015 ng/g, and for Ru and Rh 0.03 ng/g.