China
Africa
Explore chapters and articles related to this topic
Occupational Toxicology
Published in Lorris G. Cockerham, Barbara S. Shane, Basic Environmental Toxicology, 2019
The main biological materials used for biological monitoring are urine, blood, and exhaled air (breath analysis). Other biological materials (e.g., fat, hair, nails, saliva, milk, and placenta) are collected and analyzed in special situations. Either spot or 24-h urine sampling can be used for inorganic chemicals and those organic chemicals which are rapidly biotransformed to water-soluble metabolites. Blood is the more appropriate biological fluid for substances poorly biotransformed. Breath analysis is used for exhaled volatile materials. Hair and nail clippings are often used to estimate exposures to heavy metals. However, several problems exist in the use of hair and nail clippings. At best, they reflect historical exposure due to the slow growth rates. Accuracy in detection depends on the portion of the hair or nail sampled. Milk samples may contain fat-soluble substances that have been absorbed by the female worker (Waritz, 1979). Body fat and bone marrow samples may reveal fat-soluble substances; however, invasive procedures are required to obtain these biological samples and they are thus only selectively used.
Breathomics and its Application for Disease Diagnosis: A Review of Analytical Techniques and Approaches
Published in Raquel Cumeras, Xavier Correig, Volatile organic compound analysis in biomedical diagnosis applications, 2018
David J. Beale, Oliver A. H. Jones, Avinash V. Karpe, Ding Y. Oh, Iain R. White, Konstantinos A. Kouremenos, Enzo A. Palombo
Furthermore, breath analysis is a tool which can potentially be used for human exposure assessment. Although efforts have been made to optimize breath analysis methods, there is still a need for more research demonstrating their suitability before these methods can be used routinely (validation studies). These studies should involve the standardization of collection methods and profiling via the various detection platforms available. Multiple efficient devices have also been developed which have shown potential. However, there are still issues involving leakage, adsorption and transfer processes. Lastly, the use of more sensitive and portable methods should allow for accurate identification and quantitation within a clinical environment, thus facilitating effective point-of-care testing.
Future Directions for Breath Sensors
Published in Krzysztof Iniewski, Biological and Medical Sensor Technologies, 2017
Arunima Panigrahy, Jean-Pierre Delplanque, Cristina E. Davis
Breath analysis has the potential to be a powerful noninvasive technique for the diagnosis and monitoring of many different respiratory diseases such as asthma, lung cancer, or other airway inflammation disorders as well as other diseases such as diabetes and nephropathies. Diagnostic tests that utilize urine, blood, or tissue samples have existed since the late nineteenth century. Blood and tissue tests are invasive and patients, especially elderly patients and young children, frequently display some amount of discomfort and uneasiness with sample collection. This can result in patient inhibition or fear of visiting their doctor, thus potentially delaying the detection of early onset of certain diseases. Urine tests—like breath analysis—may yield interesting new diagnostic tools as they provide a minimally invasive route to monitor physiological metabolites. However, relatively few have been routinely available for common diseases so far. Patients are more likely to permit noninvasive testing, but also to accept frequent or regular testing which may allow early detection of potential health problems. These noninvasive methods (especially breath analysis) can enable easier testing for children, neonates, and patients with severe level of diseases on whom invasive tests are otherwise difficult to perform [11].
Low temperature detection of ammonia vapor based on Al-doped SnO2 nanowires prepared by thermal evaporation technique
Published in Journal of Asian Ceramic Societies, 2018
Detection of ammonia with high level of accuracy is of great significance in various industrial processes, ranging from fertilizer production to food processing industry. In addition, NH3 detection is also used in monitoring of greenhouse gases owing to the high toxicity of this gas [6,7]. Furthermore, breath analysis is considered as noninvasive and safe technique for hostile medical conditions and, therefore, is imperative in medical analysis [8]. For instance, ammonia is a disease indicator for liver matters. It is found that ammonia in humans is transformed to urea in the liver and then secretes in urines through the kidney, whereas unreacted ammonia is send out through breath of 10 ppb for a healthy person [9]. Inevitably, ammonia concentration enhances when the liver starts malfunctioning and the kidney reaches more than 1 ppm in occurrence of renal failure [10].