The stability of blood, plasma and serum constituents during simulated transport

The aim of the study was to simulate physical conditions occurring during mail transport and to study how these conditions influence the stability of material for clinical chemistry analysis. Periods of transport at constant temperatures did not result in big changes. We found that all serum and plasma constituents tested should be considered stable for 4 days at -20 degrees C. Except for the coagulation factors studied all other serum and plasma constituents were stable also at 4 degrees C and 20 degrees C. Blood cells were studied only at 4 degrees C at which temperature they were stable for 4 days except for thrombocytes. The condition that caused the largest effect was changing of temperature. Temperature gradient from ambient to 50 degrees C influenced the concentrations of all cells in blood, of coagulation factors in plasma and of enzymes in serum. The constituents were remarkably stable during shaking. The results agreed with those of a field study on the effect of mail transport by Berg et al. [3].