A method for the determination of the residual chloroform in defatted cancellous bone transplants

The removal of fat from cancellous bone tissue promotes the clinical healing of the transplant and improves the penetration of chemical sterilisation media into the tissue. Treatment using chloroform/methanol (2:1, 2 h) is frequently used as a defatting procedure. Eight rinses with methanol followed by two rinses with aqua ad iniectabilia (20 min each, with ultrasonic effect) ensure depletion in the level of chloroform from defatted cancellous bone to a concentration below 25 ppm (limit value). For the necessary routine quality checks on the production process, a gas chromatography method has been developed that determines the level of chloroform in cancellous bone, for which the detection limit is 0.003 ppm.