A Rapid Determination of Hemoglobin Concentration The deterniination of the concentration of hemoglobin in a sample of hlood is an important clinical test. An accurate hemoglobin determination can he carried out as a student experiment in less than two hours. The experiment is suitable for a variety of chemistry courses, from introductory chemistry to quantitative analysis 07 biochemistry. The procedure1 consists of adding a measured volume of hlood to concentrated HzSOc This destroys both red hlood cells and hemoglobin molecules. Destruction of hemoglohin frees the hemoglobin-bound iron for further reactions. Since hemoglobin contains exactly 0.340% iron, a determination of iron concentration is also a determination of hemoglobin. The iron is oxidized to the Fe3+ state (K2S208). and proteins are precipitated from the mixture (NazW03 and removed. Addition of KSCN solution to the protein-free filtrate produces the intensely red FeSCN2+ ion. Colorimetric measurement a t 480 nm of the concentration of FeSCN2+ gives the concentration of iron. This in turn is used to calculate the hemoglohin concentration in the original sample. Experimental details may be found in the references below.
Laney College Oakland, California 94607
108 / Journal of ChemicalEducation
Richard Shavitz
