New Measurement of Hydrogen Gas and Acetone Vapor in Gases Emanating From Human Skin

We have found that hydrogen gas and acetone vapor emanate from human skin. Emanation gases from human skin were collected for 5–10 min from arm, palm, or forefinger with a homemade probe and bags. The trapped gases were analyzed by gas chromatography, and hydrogen gas and acetone vapor were found to exist in all subjects. The probe (44 mm outer diameter, 6 mm height and inner volume of 3.8 mL) directly covered a 9.4 cm2—flat skin surface of the arm, and a modified Tedlar bag or aluminum bag could cover a finger or the whole palm. The average rates of acetone vapor and hydrogen gas released from human skin (15 subjects) is 80–800 and 5–50 pg cm−2 min−1, respectively. There is a good linear relationship between the emanation rate and the concentration of those gases in human breath. Correlation factors for acetone vapor and hydrogen gas are 0.81 and 0.66, respectively. The proposed non-invasive clinical technique imposes only very minor physical stress on a subject during sampling.