Dissolved platinum in rainwater, river water and seawater around Tokyo Bay and Otsuchi Bay in Japan

Abstract

Platinum, among the rarest elements in the earth's crust, is now widely used in various products such as catalytic converters in automobiles and anticancer drugs. Consequently, the concentration of Pt in urban aquatic environments might be increasing. However, little is known about the distributions and geochemical cycles of Pt in aquatic environments because its overall concentration remains low. In this study, we examined dissolved Pt in river water and seawater around Tokyo Bay and Otsuchi Bay (Iwate Prefecture, Japan) and rainwater in the Tokyo area. To determine sub-picomolar levels of dissolved Pt, we used isotope-dilution Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) after column preconcentration with an anion exchange resin. We observed seasonal variation in the dissolved Pt concentrations in Tokyo rainwater in 2002; higher concentrations were found from January to March, which might be related to the pH of rainwaters. At the source of the Arakawa River in the greater Tokyo area, the dissolved Pt concentration was found to be similar to that in rainwater. Further downstream, the dissolved Pt concentration increased sharply, which seemingly reflects the anthropogenic input of Pt into the river. In a rural area in Japan (Otsuchi Bay), the dissolved Pt concentrations were lower than in Tokyo Bay. In this area, a sharp increase in dissolved Pt concentrations was observed in a high salinity region. Contrasting Pt distribution patterns between urban and rural areas indicate that strong anthropogenic Pt sources exist in urban estuaries and that geochemical processes within estuaries affect the Pt distribution.