Electronic ISSN 2287-0237

VOLUME

A SURVEY OF METAL CONTAMINATION IN BLOOD COLLECTION TUBES ON TOXICOLOGY ASSAYS

SEPTEMBER 2017 - VOL.13 | ORIGINAL ARTICLE
OBJECTIVE:

To investigate metal contamination in lavender top blood collection tubes (BCTs) coated with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) from the Department of Occupational Health at hospitals in Chonburi Province. 

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

 One hundred and fifty lavender top blood collection tubes (BCTs) that had been stored properly and were not expired from the Department of Occupational Health at 9 hospitals in Chonburi Province were collected. Deionized water which had already been screened for metal contamination was added to all lavender top BCTs. The samples were analyzed for metal contamination by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). 

RESULTS:

The metal contamination in BCTs included aluminum (Al), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), tin (Sn) and zinc (Zn). The first top 5 with highly contaminated median were zinc (20.39 μg/L), aluminum (6.64 μg/L), copper (1.59 μg/L), nickel (1.14 μg/L), and lead (0.71 μg/L). Aluminum and manganese were remarkable contamination when compared with the reference values in humans. The contamination was different in each brand. However, arsenic (As), mercury (Hg), selenium (Se) and thallium (TI) were not found. 

CONCLUSION:

This study showed that there was metal contamination in lavender top BCTs. However, the laboratory errors can occur in several stages. Hence, it is important to review the validity and quality of the entire procedure prior to the adoption of the outcomes. Many decontamination techniques were suggested, but they are not practical. Therefore, royal blue top BCTs were recommended for blood collection for metal or trace element analysis.

Keywords:

metals, trace elements, blood, collection

DOI:

10.31524/bkkmedj.2017.09.002

MEDIA
Table 1:
Laboratory’s metal assay availability and detection limits of ICP-MS.
Table 2:
Metal concentrations in deionized water in lavender-top tubes (EDTA), n =150
Table 3:
Metal contaminations in each group of testing
Table 4:
Metal concentrations in each brand of testing
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