title: Elimination half-life of acetone in humans: case reports and review of the literature.
abstract: Two instances of finding abnormally high concentrations of acetone in urine (0.10 g/dL and 0.052 g/dL) without any measurable amounts of ethanol (<0.005 g/dL) or isopropanol (<0.005 g/dL) prompted a survey of the elimination kinetics of isopropanol and its metabolite acetone in humans. In a hospital patient who had ingested denatured alcohol, the elimination half-life (t(1/2)) of acetone during detoxification was 27 h and not 3-5 h as reported by other workers. Several other literature reports of individuals who had ingested isopropanol as well as controlled studies after administration of moderate amounts of acetone and/or isopropanol support the notion of a long elimination half-life of 17-27 h for acetone compared with a t(1/2) of 1-3 h for isopropanol.
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Toxicology, University Hospital, Linköping, Sweden.
authors.forename: A W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Jones
mesh_terms: D019840:2-Propanol / Q000506:poisoning / Q000652:urine; D000096:Acetone / Q000506:poisoning / Q000652:urine*; D000328:Adult; D000431:Ethanol / Q000506:poisoning / Q000652:urine; D005260:Female; D006207:Half-Life; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male
chemical_list: D000096:Acetone; D000431:Ethanol; D019840:2-Propanol