A purge-and-trap method for the analysis of acetone in biological tissues.

A method for the detection and quantitation of acetone in biological tissues is described. The solvent was extracted with nitrogen gas from the biological specimen and adsorbed on a porous polymer (Porapak Q). The acetone content of the adsorbent was determined by conventional gas chromatographic analysis (FID) after heat desorption. The reliability of the method was tested both with in vitro- and in vivo-exposed specimens. A complete recovery was obtained after in vitro additions of acetone. The method error was about 9% as calculated from both in vitro and in vivo experiments. Acetone concentrations ranging between 17 nmol/g tissue in nonexposed animals and 1.8 mumol/g tissue in mice exposed to acetone vapor were determined.