Comparison of ethanol and other drugs of abuse concentrations inwhole blood stored invenoject® glass and plastic andvenosafe™ plastic evacuated tubes

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the stability of blood concentrations of a variety of illegal and medicinal drugs that are important for forensic analyses when spiked and stored in Vacutainer® or Venosafe evacuated plastic collection tubes compared to Vacutainer evacuated glass tubes. Tubes were filled with spiked whole blood and analyzed after storage for one week at ambient temperature and at -20°C, respectively. Freeze-andthaw stability was included in the study. No significant difference between storage in glass or plastic tubes was noted for any compound investigated.