[Optimizing carbon monoxide detection in biological material]

The determination of the CO-content is difficult in heated or putrified samples of blood and tissues. The preparation of these materials and a sensitive gas-chromatographic detection of small amounts of carbon-monoxide with head-space technique are described. The iron-content of a sample is a measure for the complete saturation with carbon-monoxide. This content is measured with AAS in the same vessel used before to determine CO. The presented method is suited too for ecological studies.