Abbott radiative energy attenuation method for quantifying ethanol evaluated and compared with gas-liquid chromatography and the Du Pont aca.

Quantification of ethanol by a radiative energy attenuation (REA) technique was evaluated and compared with results by gas-liquid chromatography (GLC) and by the Du Pont aca. Within-assay CVs were less than 5.5%. Between-assay CVs ranged from 1.9% to 6.0% for serum and blood controls at concentrations of 0.5, 1.0, and 2.5 g/L. We observed no cross reactivity with methanol, isopropanol, or acetone, and analytical recovery of ethanol from serum averaged 101%. For the three-method comparison we performed parallel determinations of 156 blood, 92 serum, and 54 urine samples containing a wide range of ethanol concentrations. Linear regression analysis of the REA results vs those of GLC or aca yielded the following: for serum, REA = 1.03 GLC -0.03 (r = 0.998), REA = 1.13 aca -0.04 (r = 0.999); for blood, REA = 0.97 GLC + 0.05 (r = 0.994), REA = 0.99 aca + 0.06 (r = 0.996); and for urine, REA = 1.01 GLC -0.03 (r = 0.998). We also discuss the clinical and forensic use of the REA method for ethanol.