Rapid determination of volatile organic compounds in human whole blood using static headspace sampling with gas chromatography and mass spectrometry

Headspace (HS) and headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) were studied for extracting volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from whole blood, with chemical and instrumental variables being optimized for maximum sensitivity: incubation at 60 °C, equilibration for 30 min, pH 11, and 2 mL injection volume. Both techniques provided accurate analyses, with detection limits of 0.05-0.1 ng mL^-1 and 0.05-0.5 ng mL^-1. HS showed better sensitivity, reproducibility, and analysis times than HS-SPME. Overall levels of chloroform in whole blood were found to be 0.05-5.84 ng mL^-1; detected levels of benzene were 0.05-2.20 ng mL^-1.