Exhaled breath condensate contains more than only volatiles

Abstract

I read with interest the review of Wood et al. 1 on biomarkers of lipid peroxidation. I would like to congratulate the authors on this well-detailed overview of the topic. At the same time I would also like to point out that their statement saying “breath condensate samples…rely on the volatility of the substances being measured” is false. If, by this, the authors mean that only volatile substances can be captured in condensate samples they are misunderstanding this sampling method. The authors may not be familiar with this technique, which may be why they make this comment and also mention that exhaled ethane and penthane are materials being measured in condensate several times in their review. The latter two are present in the gas phase of exhaled breath and are measured directly in the breath and not in the cooled (condensed) sample 2.