Mayo Test Catalog, (Sorted By Test Name) - Mayo Medical ...

VLTB
89190
VLTS
8632
Volatile Screen, Blood
Clinical Information: Volatile substances in the blood include ethanol, methanol, isopropanol, and
acetone. Acetone is generally elevated in metabolic conditions such as diabetic ketoacidosis. Methanol
and isopropanol are highly toxic and result from exogenous ingestion. Ethanol is the single most
important substance of abuse in the United States. It is the active agent in beer, wine, vodka, whiskey,
rum, and other liquors. Ethanol acts on cerebral function as a depressant similar to general anesthetics.
This depression causes most of the typical symptoms such as impaired thought, clouded judgment, and
changed behavior. As the level of alcohol increases, the degree of impairment progressively increases. In
most jurisdictions in the United States, the per se blood level for being under the influence of alcohol
(ethanol) for purposes of driving a motor vehicle is 80 mg/dL.
Useful For: Detection and quantitation of acetone, methanol, isopropanol, and ethanol in whole blood
Quantification of the concentration of ethanol in blood which correlates with the degree of intoxication
Evaluation of toxicity to the measured volatile substances
Interpretation: Toxic concentrations: -Methanol: > or =10 mg/dL -Ethanol: > or =400 mg/dL
-Isopropanol: > or =10 mg/dL -Acetone: > or =10 mg/dL
Reference Values:
METHANOL
Not detected (Positive results are quantitated.)
Toxic concentration: > or =10 mg/dL
ETHANOL
Not detected (Positive results are quantitated.)
Toxic concentration: > or =400 mg/dL
ISOPROPANOL
Not detected (Positive results are quantitated.)
Toxic concentration: > or =10 mg/dL
ACETONE
Not detected (Positive results are quantitated.)
Toxic concentration: > or =10 mg/dL
Clinical References: 1. Caplan YH: In Forensic Science Handbook. Vol. 1. Edited by R Saferstein.
Englewood Cliffs, Prentice Hall, 1982 2. Goodman and Gilman's: The Pharmacological Basis of
Therapeutics. Seventh edition. Edited by TW Rall, F Murad. New York, McMillan Publishing, 1985 3.
Porter WF, Moyer TP: Clinical toxicology. In Tietz Textbook of Clinical Chemistry. Fourth edition.
Edited by CA Burtis, ER Ashwood. Philadelphia, WB Saunders Company, 1993, pp 1155-1235 4.
Principles of Forensic Toxicology. Edited by B Levine. Washington DC, American Association of
Clinical Chemistry, 1999
Volatile Screen, Serum
Clinical Information: Volatile substances in the blood include ethanol, methanol, isopropanol, and
acetone: -Ethanol is the single most important substance of abuse in the United States. It is the active
agent in beer, wine, vodka, whiskey, rum, and other liquors. -Methanol and isopropanol are highly toxic;
toxicity results from ingestion (exogenous). -Acetone is generally elevated in metabolic conditions such
as diabetic ketoacidosis (endogenous). It also is a metabolite of isopropanol. Ethanol acts on cerebral
function as a depressant similar to general anesthetics. This depression causes most of the typical
symptoms such as impaired thought, clouded judgment, and changed behavior. As the level of alcohol
increases, the degree of impairment progressively increases. On average, the serum or plasma
concentration of the alcohols is 1.2-fold higher than blood concentration. For example, the serum or
plasma would contain approximately 0.10 g/dL of ethanol in a blood specimen that contains 0.08 g/dL
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