Analysis of perfluorochemical elimination from the respiratory system

Thomas H. Shaffer, Raymond Foust III, Marla R. Wolfson, and Thomas F. Miller Jr. Department of Physiology, Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19140 Received 6 January 1997; accepted in final form 29 April 1997. Shaffer, Thomas H., Raymond Foust IIII, Marla R. Wolfson, and Thomas F. Miller, Jr. Analysis of perfluorochemical elimination from the respiratory system. J. Appl. Physiol. 83(3): 1033-1040, 1997. We describe a simple apparatus for analysis of perfluorochemicals (PFC) in expired gas and thus a means for determining PFC vapor and liquid elimination from the respiratory system. The apparatus and data analysis are based on thermal conduction and mass transfer principles of gases. In vitro studies were conducted with the PFC vapor analyzer to determine calibration curves for output voltage as a function of individual respiratory gases, respiratory gases saturated with PFC vapor, and volume percent standards for percent PFC saturation (%PFC-Sat) in air. Voltage-concentration data for %PFC-Sat of the vapor from the in vitro tests were accurate to within 2.0% from 0 to 100% PFC-Sat, linear ( r = 0.99, P