@article{ref1,
title="Statistical comparisons of blood alcohol samples from 6-mL and 10-mL grey-top tubes",
journal="Journal of forensic sciences",
year="2020",
author="Olds, Maria L. and Naquin, Jennifer L.",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="Historically, blood alcohol concentration (BAC) studies utilized a 1% concentration of the preservative sodium fluoride (NaF), leaving an information gap supporting usage of lower concentrations of NaF to preserve ethanol. As many forensic laboratories utilize Becton, Dickinson and Company 6-mL gray-top tubes (0.25% NaF), statistical comparisons were conducted to determine whether significant differences exist between BAC values obtained from 6-mL tubes versus 10-mL tubes (1% NaF). Whole blood was spiked at three concentrations, (0.04, 0.08, and 0.15 g/100 mL) and aliquoted into tubes at &quot;low,&quot; &quot;medium,&quot; and &quot;high&quot; fill volumes. Tubes were split into refrigerated or ambient storage and analyzed after 1, 3, 5, 7, and 30 days, using headspace gas chromatography. Each 6-mL and 10-mL tube pair, prepared, stored, and analyzed under identical conditions, was compared by t-test (95% confidence level). For refrigerated tubes, 32 of 45-tube pairs did not reject the null hypothesis (that 6-mL and 10-mL tubes yield equivalent BACs), and 31 of 45 ambient stored tube pairs did not reject the null hypothesis. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) found no significant differences between 6-mL and 10-mL gray-top tubes for 0.04 and 0.15 g/100 mL concentrations over 30 days; significant differences were observed for 0.08 g/100 mL concentration tubes, which warrants further study. Paired t-tests of grouped samples found no significant differences between 6-mL and 10-mL tubes at any concentration.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0022-1198",
doi="10.1111/1556-4029.14632",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1556-4029.14632"
}