title: Background levels of hydrogen cyanide in human breath measured by infrared cavity ring down spectroscopy.
abstract: Hydrogen cyanide (HCN) in breath has been suggested as a diagnostic tool for cyanide poisoning and for cyanide-producing bacterial infections. To distinguish elevated levels of breath HCN, baseline data are needed. Background levels of HCN were measured in mixed exhaled air from 40 healthy subjects (26 men, 14 women, age 21-61 years; detection limit: 1.5 ppb; median: 4.4 ppb; range <1.5-14 ppb) by near-infrared cavity ring down spectroscopy (CRDS). No correlation was observed with smoking habits, recent meals or age. However, female subjects had slightly higher breath levels of HCN than male subjects. CRDS has not previously been used for this purpose.
authors.affiliation: Work Environment Toxicology, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. kristin.stamyr@ki.se
authors.forename: Kristin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Stamyr
authors.forename: Olavi
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Vaittinen
authors.forename: Janne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jaakola
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guss
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Metsälä
authors.forename: Gunnar
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Johanson
authors.forename: Lauri
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Halonen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001944:Breath Tests / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006856:Hydrogen Cyanide / Q000032:analysis*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013055:Spectrophotometry, Infrared / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D006856:Hydrogen Cyanide