Thin- and thick-target excitation functions of Pt-181,Pt-119,Pt-191 radionuclides were experimentally determined by cyclotron irradiation, using nuclear reactions (OS)-O-nat(alpha,xn) in the energy range up to 38 MeV with the Scanditronix-MC40 Cyclotron of the Joint Research Centre-Ispra, VA (Italy) of the European Communities. Radionuclidic, radiochemical and chemical purities have been also measured by use of analytical and radioanalytical techniques. In this paper, the result of the experimental thick- and thin-target excitation functions of Pt-188,Pt-189,Pt-191 radiotracers, produced via Os-nat(alpha,xn) reactions, are presented. The data are of relevant interest for optimising cyclotron production of platinum radionuclides to be used as radiotracers for metallo-biochemical, biomedical, toxicological and environmental studies. In this paper, we will present the analytical and radioanalytical methods that have been developed to determine the amount of isotopic carrier and the SA(NCA) in the case of Pt-188, Pt-191, to be used for 'multiple labelling' experiments, by: high resolution gamma-spectrometry, beta-spectrometry by liquid scintillation counting, neutron activation analysis, FL-AAS, and ICP-OES. Moreover, some preliminary biological applications were carried out in order to determine the cyto-toxicology of different chemical forms of platinum. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
