Novel reagent and method for direct determination of chloride in serum with a centrifugal analyzer.

We report a novel reagent containing ferric perchlorate, perchloric acid, and polyoxyethylene (23) lauryl ether (Brij 35) with which the concentration of chloride in serum can be measured. We applied this reagent to use with a centrifugal analyzer (CentrifiChem 400) in a dynamic bichromatic procedure, resulting in broad linearity of the standard curve (0-180 mmol/L), short analysis time (1 min), and little interference from bilirubin, hemoglobin, turbidity, or bromide ions. The reagent is simple, contains no mercury, and the combination of low acid concentration and surfactant prevents serum protein precipitation. Precision is good (for x- = 93 mmol/L, CV = 1.55%), and results correlate well with those obtained by coulometry (r = 0.974).