Monitoring of platinum surface contamination in seven Dutch hospital pharmacies using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

OBJECTIVE To develop, validate, and apply a method for the determination of platinum contamination, originating from cisplatinum, oxaliplatinum, and carboplatinum. METHODS Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was used to determine platinum in wipe samples. The sampling procedure and the analytical conditions were optimised and the assay was validated. The method was applied to measure surface contamination in seven Dutch hospital pharmacies. RESULTS The developed method allowed reproducible quantification of 0.50 ng l(-1) platinum (5 pg/wipe sample). Recoveries for stainless steel and linoleum surfaces ranged between 50.4 and 81.4% for the different platinum compounds tested. Platinum contamination was reported in 88% of the wipe samples. Although a substantial variation in surface contamination of the pharmacies was noticed, in most pharmacies, the laminar-airflow (LAF) hoods, the floor in front of the LAF hoods, door handles, and handles of service hatches showed positive results. This demonstrates that contamination is spread throughout the preparation rooms. CONCLUSION We developed and validated an ultra sensitive and reliable ICP-MS method for the determination of platinum in surface samples. Surface contamination with platinum was observed in all hospital pharmacies sampled. The interpretation of these results is, however, complicated.