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An Improved Method for Collecting Breath for the Assay of Acetaldehyde
Author(s) -
Phillips Michael,
Hensley Preston,
Baiter Richard A.,
Cohan Stanley L.
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
alcoholism: clinical and experimental research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.267
H-Index - 153
eISSN - 1530-0277
pISSN - 0145-6008
DOI - 10.1111/j.1530-0277.1984.tb05514.x
Subject(s) - acetaldehyde , chromatography , syringe , chemistry , gas chromatography , contamination , ethanol , medicine , biochemistry , ecology , psychiatry , biology
An improved method is described for the collection of breath for the subsequent assay of acetaldehyde and other volatile components. Breath is collected in a Pyrex gas‐collecting tube sealed at both ends with Teflon taps. Prior to collection or assay of the samples, this tube is heated to 72oC; breath is sampled for assay by piercing a rubber septum on a sideport with the needle of a similarly heated gas‐tight syringe, and injected into a gas chromatograph (GC). The advantages of this system are: (1) Avoidance of the artefacts encountered in the assay of acetaldehyde in the blood; (2) suitability for sample collection at a site remote from the GC laboratory; (3) avoidance of sample loss by leakage, contamination, or partitioning into water condensed from breath; and (4) compatibility with a “nondedicated” GC lacking any special gas‐collecting circuitry. A typical study of a normal human volunteer is described, demonstrating the rise and fall of the concentration of acetaldehyde and ethanol in the breath following the ingestion of an oral dose of ethanol.