Continuous-flow (Autoanalyzer I) analysis for plasma thiocyanate as an index to tobacco smoking

We describe a procedure for determining thiocyanate in plasma with a Technicon AutoAnalyzer I, modified with a 50-mm tubular flow cell to increase the sensitivity of thiocyanate detection. The procedure is suitable for distinguishing cigarette smokers from non-smokers, the mean for smokers being 151 (SD 43) micromol/L and for non-smokers 62 (SD 19) micromol/L.