A Survey of Metal Contamination in Blood Collection Tubes on Toxicology Assays

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Published: Sep 20, 2017
DOI: https://doi.org/10.31524/bkkmedj.2017.09.002
Keywords:
metals, trace elements, blood, collection

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Suphakit Wechphanich, MD
Poowadol Thammarat, MSc

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To investigate metal contamination in lavender top blood collectiontubes (BCTs) coated with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) from the Departmentof Occupational Health at hospitals in Chonburi Province.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred and fifty lavender top blood collectiontubes (BCTs) that had been stored properly and were not expired from the Departmentof Occupational Health at 9 hospitals in Chonburi Province were collected. Deionizedwater which had already been screened for metal contamination was added to alllavender top BCTs. The samples were analyzed for metal contamination by inductivelycoupled 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 (20.39μg/L), aluminum (6.64 μg/L), copper (1.59 μg/L), nickel (1.14 μg/L), and lead (0.71μg/L). Aluminum and manganese were remarkable contamination when compared withthe 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 lavendertop BCTs. However, the laboratory errors can occur in several stages. Hence, it isimportant to review the validity and quality of the entire procedure prior to the adoptionof the outcomes. Many decontamination techniques were suggested, but they are notpractical. Therefore, royal blue top BCTs were recommended for blood collection formetal or trace element analysis.

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How to Cite
1.
Wechphanich S, Thammarat P. A Survey of Metal Contamination in Blood Collection Tubes on Toxicology Assays. BKK Med J [Internet]. 2017 Sep. 20 [cited 2024 Apr. 20];13(2):5. Available from: https://he02.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/bkkmedj/article/view/221899
Issue
Vol. 13 No. 2 (2017): September
Section
Original Article

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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