The use of automated headspace gas chromatography for determination of 1,1,1-trichloroethane in rat blood and brain tissue.

1,1,1-trichloroethane in blood and brain tissue from rats which had been artificially ventilated with solvent (8000 ppm) was analysed by automated headspace gas chromatography using a fused silica capillary column. A given concentration of 1,1,1-trichloroethane in the brain could be correlated with a corresponding concentration in the blood; both the uptake and release of the solvent were quicker in blood than in brain. No volatile metabolites of the solvent were found. Automated headspace gas chromatographic analysis is a rapid and sensitive technique for the quantitative registration of volatile organic solvents, e.g. of industrial importance, in body fluids and tissues.