The analytical challenges of Pt determination by ICP–SFMS posed by different human tissues and fluids have been critically assessed. Investigated samples were (1) urine, (2) serum of cancer patients sampled during chemotherapy with carboplatin, (3) microdialysates (20 µL sample volume) collected from tumor and non-tumor tissue, and, finally—for the first time—(4) human lung tissue to study background concentrations of inhaled platinum. Sample preparation involved microwave digestion and open vessel treatment or simple dilution (microdialysates). Depending on the sample preparation and introduction systems used (microconcentric nebulization, ultrasonic nebulization with and without membrane desolvation) excellent procedural detection limits (3s criterion) of 0.35 pg g−1 for urine, 420 pg g−1 for serum, 400 pg g−1 for lung tissue and 13 pg g−1 for microdialysates could be obtained. Ultratrace concentrations of 1–40 pg g−1, and 1000–3000 pg g−1 were measured in urine and human lung tissue, respectively, as typical for samples in environmental studies. Quantification was carried out by IDMS and standard addition in the case of urine samples. Internal standardization could not correct for non-spectral interferences in external calibration. In the serum and microdialysates of patients during chemotherapy with carboplatin, elevated Pt levels ranging between 0.01 and 10 µg g−1 were determined by external calibration (195Pt isotope). For all investigated samples spectral interferences could be excluded by following different strategies. High-resolution control measurements (194Pt, 195Pt) were performed in the case of elevated Pt levels, i.e. for microdialysates and serum samples. An Hf/Pt ratio of 0.4 was determined in human lung samples. An HfO formation ratio of 0.2% was assessed for standard solutions at the present experimental conditions, revealing that the contribution of 179Hf16O, 178Hf17O, 177Hf18O to the 195Pt isotope signal used for quantification was not significant.
