We developed a method for measuring pentobarbital in samples that also contain phenobarbital. The phenobarbital is destroyed by adding sodium hydroxide and then heating at 95 degrees C for 60 min. Pentobarbital is not affected by this pretreatment and can then be measured with an Abbott TDx barbiturates kit. Using this method, we obtained an average analytical recovery of 98% of added pentobarbital and a correlation of y = 0.953x + 3.4 vs HPLC. The intra-assay CV was 3.7% at 25.8 mg/L; the interassay CV was 6.2% at 16.1 mg/L. Other long-acting barbiturates, e.g., hexobarbital, are also effectively destroyed by this alkali pretreatment. Other short-acting barbiturates, e.g., secobarbital, are not removed and would produce an interference.
The potential for adverse effects of lead (Pb) exposure on development in children remains a health concern in the U.S., and programmatic screening of children for elevated blood lead levels ([Pb] >10 microg/dL) is widespread. With sufficiently sensitive technology for the measurement of lead such as ICP-MS, it is possible to utilize filter paper bloodspots as a specimen suitable for lead screening. Filter paper bloodspot specimens are relatively inexpensive, easy to collect, and stable during transport. For these reasons they are preferred by many program clinics for child subjects. We describe measurement of Pb from filter paper bloodspots using ICP-MS and bloodspot standards.
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