Use of ion mobility spectroscopy with an ultraviolet ionization source as a vanguard screening system for the detection and determination of acetone in urine as a biomarker for cow and human diseases

An ion mobility spectrometer equipped with an ultraviolet lamp was used for the qualitative and quantitative determination of acetone in urine samples. This analyte can be used as a biomarker for some fat metabolism-related diseases in humans and cows. Samples require no pretreatment other than warming at 80 °C for 5 min, after which an N2 stream is used to drive volatile analytes to the ion mobility spectrometer. The precision of the ensuing method, expressed as relative standard deviation (%RSD), is better in all cases than 6.7% for peak height and calculated at three levels of concentration. The analyte concentration range studied was from 5 to 80 mg L−1, its limit of detection in the aqueous matrix 3 mg L−1 and recoveries from spiked urine samples 109 ± 3%. The calculated reduced mobility for acetone in the urine samples, 1.75 ± 0.04 cm2 V−1 s−1, was similar to previously reported values. Also, the results were consistent with those provided by test strips used for reference. The proposed method provides a new vanguard screening system for determining acetone in urine samples.