Exhaled breath condensate: Standardized collection of samples from healthy volunteers

Expired breath condensate collection is a noninvasive technique for obtaining a sample in which to analyze substances that reflect the functional status of the lung and other tissues. Twenty healthy volunteers provided 3 expired breath samples: the second was collected 20 minutes after the first and the third 48 hours after the first. The air and condensate volumes were assessed. The mean (SD) volume of condensate in exhaled air over a period of 15 minutes was 1.8 (0.5) mL (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.5-2 mL) and the coefficient of variation was 29%. Analysis of variance in the 3 samples demonstrated no significant differences. The mean volume of air inhaled over 15 minutes was 119 (25) L (95% CI, 112-125 L). These results indicate that it takes at least 15 minutes and the inhalation of some 120 L of air to collect a condensate volume that exceeds 1.5 mL, sufficient to allow distribution in aliquots to analyze fundamental physical and chemical properties (conductivity, pH) and certain relevant biomarkers.