[Gas chromatographic determination of formic acid in urine as carbon monoxide (author's transl)].

A gas chromatographic method for determining formic acid in human urine is described. The analytical reliability of this method fullfills the criteria of statistical quality control. The rate of recovery is 101.2 to 105.7% the variability coefficients lie between 2.9 and 7.2%. The selectivity of this method is demonstrated by analysing a group of components normally occuring in urine which did not interfere with the determination of formic acid. The detection limit of about 4.3 mumol/1 formic acid in urine permits the determination of the concentration of formic acid in the urine of normal persons. The concentrations of formic acid in the urine of a group of normal persons lies between 0 and 2.79 mmol/1. The average concentration was 0.39 +/- 0.60 mmol/1.