91 



Analysis of Methanolic Perspiration Solution 



The final study in this chapter involves the direct dissolution of components 

 in perspiration into methanol. This work is aimed at determining the residence of 

 lactic acid in the matrix on the skin. By examination of each phase for lactic acid, 

 insight was gained into the abundance and distribution of lactic acid in perspiration. 



Experimental 



Reactions of Lactic Acid 



Most of the lactic acid mass spectra found in this section were acquired from 

 direct thermal desorption of handled glass beads. The sample was desorbed from 

 5 beads which had been rubbed in the palms of the hands for 5 min by the author 

 of this dissertation. The beads were placed in a 1/4" o.d. glass tube (maximum 25 

 beads) which was inserted into the apparatus described in chapter two (figure 2-3). 

 Helium, at 8 psig was passed over the beads and used as the carrier gas through a 

 1.0 m X 0.10 mm i.d. deactivated FSOT column. The GC oven temperature was 

 ramped via initially holding the column at 28°C for 1.0 min followed by a 12 min 

 ramp at 15°C/min to 207°C, with a 5 min hold at that temperature. The transfer line 

 was concurrently ramped from 50°C to 210°C at 20°C/min once the run was started, 

 and held at 210°C for the final 10 min of the analysis. Ionization was effected by 

 isobutane CI at an indicated source pressure of 1647 mtorr. The ion source 

 temperature was set at 150°C and the manifold temperature at 70°C. The electron 



