2025 · Environmental health perspectives · open access
Blood Lead Levels in Children 5 to 7 Years of Age from the Republic of Georgia: A Feasibility Study on Lead Surveillance Using Volumetric Absorptive Microsampling
Rylander et al.
The finding, in our words
In a national surveillance pilot in Georgia, 39.8% of children aged 5-7 years had blood lead levels at or above 3.5 micrograms per decilitre, with predictors including male sex, unpainted housing, urban living in Imereti, and household lead bullet production and spice use in Adjara. The study shows that VAMS is a feasible, less invasive method for accurate lead testing in resource limited settings.
A paraphrase to the Library’s standard, never the abstract. The source is one link away and is always the authority.
A validated two-step LC-MS/MS protocol can identify 91 prohibited doping agents from a single dried blood spot collected on either cellulose cards or volumetric absorptive microsampling devices. This demonstrates robust multi-analyte screening from capillary blood, supporting decentralised anti-doping programmes where venous sampling is impractical.
Capillary blood collected by volumetric absorptive microsampling gave a shorter detection window than urine for a stimulant, helping to distinguish recent from earlier use, and more reliable detection of long-acting diuretics that bind red cells. This shows microsampling can improve interpretation in drug-monitoring programmes where urinary data alone may be ambiguous.
da Costa Nunes et al., Frontiers in sports and active living · source ↗
PEth reference values for Belgium were derived from VAMS microsampling of 487 participants in a national survey, showing distinct biomarker distributions between the general population and higher‑alcohol‑consumption subgroups. This validates capillary blood collection as a practical method for decentralised alcohol monitoring and forensic assessment.
Vandenbroucke et al., Drug and alcohol dependence reports · source ↗
The study developed and validated a rapid LC-MS/MS method for quantifying cefazolin in capillary whole blood collected via VAMS, plasma, and plasma ultrafiltrate, showing robust performance across matrices and successful application in a pediatric pilot cohort for therapeutic drug monitoring.
Kocur et al., Clinica chimica acta; international journal of clinical chemistry (paywalled) · source ↗
This study validated a method for measuring the alcohol biomarker phosphatidylethanol using two volumetric absorptive microsampling devices, finding that the Mitra device met all validation criteria and agreed with venous sampling. The Capitainer device was deemed suitable but showed reduced accuracy at higher concentrations, with a small proportional negative bias compared to venous results.
Andreassen et al., Journal of analytical toxicology (paywalled) · source ↗