Impact of air transport on blood sample quality

The aim of this study was to establish the impact of air transport on blood samples packaged with and without cooling elements and effect of outdoor temperature on sample quality. Venous samples from 38 blood donors in winter and 36 in summer were tested for hemolysis and complete blood count. One tube per subject was kept in controlled conditions at +4 degrees C. Two sets of tubes were sent by plane from Zagreb to Brussels, one with and one without cooling elements, and another two sets were sent to London following the same principle. Packages with cooling elements were stored in controlled warehousing conditions at airports (+2 degrees C to +8 degrees C), whereas packages without cooling elements were stored in ambient warehouse conditions. Data loggers were used for temperature monitoring. Our research revealed statistically significant differences in several hematologic parameters when comparing the samples stored in controlled laboratory conditions and those transported by plane. These differences were more pronounced in the samples transported during the summer. Transport conditions without cooling elements had additional negative impact on the sample quality. Transport of samples using cooling elements and controlled warehousing conditions at airports are sometimes not sufficient to maintain laboratory storage conditions.