The analytical method described here permits the determination of platinum in the inhalable particle fraction in workplace air in a concentration range of one tenth up to twice the currently valid Occupational Exposure Limit Value (OELV) in Germany of 1 mg/m³ in the inhalable particle fraction.

Sampling is performed by drawing a defined volume of air through a quartz fibre filter using a suitable pump and sampling head. The flow rate is set to 10 l/min at a sampling period of 2 h. The platinum particles deposited on the filter are determined by a graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometer (GF-AAS) after acid digestion using a high-pressure microwave digestion system. Quantitative evaluation is based on an external multiple-point calibration. The limit of quantification is 15 μg/l and 30 μg/m³ for a sampling volume of 1200 l and a sampling period of 2 h. The mean recovery is 95% and the expanded uncertainty for the validation range of 0.1 to 2 mg/m³ is 25-29% for the inhalable particle fraction.