An Improved Procedure for the Determination of Serum Ethanol by Gas Chromatography

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Abstract
A modification of the gas chromatographic procedure of Natelson and Stellate has been developed which enables analyses of serum ethanol to be performed with increased sensitivity, precision, and convenience. Serum (50 µl.) is dehydrated by injection onto anhydrous copper sulfate in a stoppered tube at 80° in a water-jacketed rotary mixing apparatus. After 2 min., ethanol vapor is swept by a stream of helium into a gas chromatographic column packed with a mixture of Flexol 8N8, diisodecylphthalate, propyleneglycol 600, and firebrick C-22. Ethanol emerges from the column after a mean retention time of 6.7 min. and is measured by a hydrogen-flame ionization detector. The coefficient of variation of replicate analyses is 2.0%. The recovery of ethanol added to serum is 98.7 ± 3.8%. The limit of sensitivity for the detection of ethanol in serum is 0.1 mg./100 ml., and assay can be made in the presence of constituents which are normally present in serum, and volatile compounds which are commonly encountered in clinical toxicology. Analyses of serum ethanol by gas chromatography provide close correlations with measurements by the alcohol dehydrogenase reaction.

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