The uptake of zinc by cerebellar rat cultures upon exposure to solutions was comparatively investigated using two well known condensed matter physics techniques: synchrotron photoelectron spectromicroscopy and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy. The objective was to apply a strategy - well known in surface physics - to distinguish between `surface' and `bulk' phenomena. The results clearly demonstrate that exposure significantly enhances the bulk (cell cytoplasm) Zn concentration with respect to the physiological level, whereas the effect on the surface (cell membrane) is negligible.