title: The suitability of Tedlar bags for breath sampling in medical diagnostic research.
abstract: Tedlar bags are tested for their suitability for breath sampling for medical diagnostic purposes. Proton-transfer reaction-mass spectrometry was used to monitor the changes in composition of various mixtures contained in custom-made black-layered Tedlar bags. Characteristic ions at m/z 88 and 95 amu reflect considerable pollution from the bag material. The pollutant found on m/z 88 amu is most probably N,N-dimethylacetamide, a latent solvent used in the production of Tedlar film. Gas composition losses during filling were found to range from 5 to 47%, depending on the compound. Once stored, the half-lives of methanol, acetaldehyde, acetone, isoprene, benzene, toluene and styrene were estimated between 5 and 13 days. Losses from breath samples (52 h after filling) were found to be less than 10%. No observable decrease was found for ethylene over 3 days, using laser-based photoacoustic detection. For the use of Tedlar bags, a standardized protocol is advised, where the time point of analysis is fixed for all samples and should be kept as close as possible to the time of sampling.
authors.affiliation: Life Science Trace Gas Facility, Molecular and Laser Physics, Institute for Molecules and Materials, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. m.steeghs@science.ru.nl
authors.forename: Marco M L
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Steeghs
authors.forename: Simona M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Cristescu
authors.forename: Frans J M
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Harren
mesh_terms: D000388:Air; D000393:Air Pollutants; D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D001944:Breath Tests / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D006813:Humidity; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D009584:Nitrogen
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D009584:Nitrogen