National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

“ Contact with biological samples can have serious health consequences through exposure to hepatitis, HIV, and other diseases. All personnel collecting, handling, or analyzing samples should follow standard precautions [6] and comply with the OSHA bloodborne pathogens standard [7] which includes immunization for hepatitis B. Toluene is extremely flammable. All work should be performed in a fume hood. SAMPLING: 1. Collect the blood by filling a 10-mL vacuum blood collection tube (light blue top, citrate) as completely as possible in order to keep the air space to a minimum. ”

“ Calibrate with at least five working standards in duplicate covering the concentration range of the samples. a. Prepare each working standard by adding 1.5 mL of IS solution and 1.5 mL of blank blood to a headspace vial and cap the vial. Spike the mixture in the vial (through the septum using a micro-syringe) with a stock standard solution to the desired concentration of toluene and mix by shaking. b. Prepare at least two blanks by repeating step a. but omitting the toluene spike. c. Measure the peak areas of toluene and isobutanol in the chromatograms. ”

“ Geometric means for the U.S. population as determined from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey may be useful for comparison. [8] NOTE 2: It is also highly recommended that a reagent blank or blanks be included in the analysis. Atmospheric toluene in the lab may contribute errors to the measured values. A reagent blank using water, a blank headspace vial, or both of these options will show if the laboratory conditions are free from a quantifiable amount of toluene. 12.
Prepare two levels of quality control (QC) samples by spiking toluene into whole blood. ”