Materials and Methods

An extremely simple, rapid method is described for simultaneously deter-mining methanol, ethanol, acetone, isopropanol, and low-boiling hydro-carbons associated with glue sniffing. Less than 1 I of blood, mixed with an internal standard, is injected directly into a Iow.cost gas chromatograph equipped with a flameionization detector. No extraction, distillation, and (or) sample preparation is required, and the method is sensitive to less than 10 ig of alcohol per ml. Additional Keyphrases glue sniffing N IJMEROUS METHODS are available for the deter-mination of alcohol concentrations in blood (1). The use of gas chromatography for such analysis is not new; several such methods are already in use (2-8). However, to my surprise, many gas chromatographers still prefer the time-consuming head-space (9, 10) or solvent extraction (5) meth-od for routine blood alcohol analysis. The concern is that direct injection of blood into the gas chro-matograph may either spoil the column or give additional interfering blood peaks and (or) plug up the syringe. In my experience such fears are un-founded. The method I describe offers the advantages of fast and accurate analysis. Direct injection of blood into the gas chromatograph does not give any “ghost ” or interfering peaks. The column remains useful for years, and plugging of the syringe can be avoided by washing it immediately after each injection. This procedure is not limited to blood alcohol analysis. Other volatile compounds-such as meth-anol, isopropanol, acetone (likely to be present in cases of isopropanol poisoning or diabetes)-as well as solvents-such as toluene, methylethy