Specimen Requirements

Title

Carboxyhemoglobin (Carbon Monoxide), Blood

Specimen Requirement

One full EDTA (lavender-top) tube of whole blood

*KEEP TUBE CLOSED*

Methodology

Stability

Room Temperature: 5 Days; Refrigerated: 10 Days; Frozen: Unacceptable

Reference Range

Non-Smoker 15 % of total Hgb

Turnaround

3-5 Days

Clinical Use

Carbon monoxide is the most common of the gaseous poisons. Malfunctioning or poorly ventilated heating appliances and internal combustion engines are frequent causes of carbon monoxide poisoning. Carbon monoxide combines reversibly with hemoglobin in a manner almost identical to oxygen resulting in a decrease in the amount of oxygen carried by hemoglobin. Accidental poisoning can occur even at low levels (greater than 0.01%) of CO in the atmosphere with prolonged exposure.

Test Code

COMQ