Preparation and stability of low-cost liquid quality-control serum stabilized with ethanediol.

The use of quality-control serum to monitor laboratory performance is an essential part of any health laboratory. However, laboratories in many countries are disadvantaged because of the non-availability or high cost of commercial quality-control sera. Here we describe the stability of bovine serum stabilized with ethanediol, prepared at low cost by simple techniques that are available in most laboratories.