Determination of total carbon dioxide in serum and plasma using a carbonate ion-selective membrane electrode

A new manual method for the determination of carbon dioxide content in serum and plasma, based on the potentiometric measurement of carbonate, is proposed and evaluated. The new method offers good precision and accuracy in the physiological concentration range as shown by detailed studies on synthetic samples, reference standards, and actual patient samples. Moreover, the method yields results which correlate very well with analyses carried out using various conventional techniques. It is expected that the proposed method could be used for manual determinations of CO2 content, especially where rapid start-up time, minimal sample treatment, and low cost are of importance.