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Screening for contamination levels of select organic environmental chemicals in medical supplies used for human specimen collection
Summary
Common medical supplies used to collect blood, urine, breast milk, and stool samples, like plastic tubes, gloves, and collection cups, can actually leak trace amounts of chemicals (like plasticizers and preservatives) into the very samples being tested. This matters because it means some chemical exposure levels found in health studies might be coming from the lab equipment itself, not from a person's body, and the problem gets worse when samples sit longer or in warmer conditions. The takeaway: researchers need to test their collection materials for contamination first, so we can trust that biomonitoring studies are accurately measuring real human exposure to environm
Trace-level analysis of environmental chemicals in human specimens can be compromised by contamination introduced during sample collection and storage. Sampling devices and tools can be a source of contamination by plasticizers, additives and antimicrobials, which warrants the need for pre-screening of these products prior to use. In this study, we determined leaching of 121 environmental chemicals in 10% and 100% methanol from 24 types of human specimen collection and storage devices. Cryovials, serum tubes, cups, syringes, transfer pipettes, and gloves -commonly used for the collection of blood, urine, breast milk and stools - were screened for the presence of plasticizers, environmental phenols, and pesticides. Measurable levels of mono-ethyl phthalate (mEP) and triethyl phosphate (TEP) were leached from vials, plastic storage bags, gloves, and diapers, and parabens were leached from collection bottles, at amounts exceeding 100 ng/device. The amount leached from the devices varied depending on the lot numbers of the same product type. Storage time and temperature were found to influence the leaching rate of chemicals, with increased levels observed following prolonged storage and at high temperatures. The study underscores the importance of pre-screening for contamination in devices used for collection and storage of human specimens for biomonitoring studies.