A method of gas chromatography using electron-capture detection for the determination of blood concentrations of halothane, chloroform and trichloroethylene.

A method of gas chromatography using electron-capture detection for the determination of the concentration of the halogenated anaesthetic agents halothane, chloroform and trichloroethylene in blood is described. The accuracy of the analysis (measured blood concentration as a percentage of the calculated concentration) was: Halothane (11 blood samples in the range 37.9-6.00 mg/100 ml), mean 100.7 (SD 2.27), range 97.3-104.0; (12 samples in the range 0.164-0.0045 mg/100 ml), mean 98.8 (SD 6.80), range 90.7-111.1. Chloroform (five blood samples in the range 63.6-7.40 mg/100 ml), mean 100.4 (SD 1.30), range 99.3-102.5. Trichloroethylene (five blood samples in the range 20.6-13.2 mg/100 ml), mean 101.6 (SD 1.60), range 99.6-104.0.