Back in the Triassic, when I was a girl with a different name, I measured
dD of blood, urine, and saliva. Whenever any of my colleagues cut their
fingers, I appeared with a capillary tube. It was not a problem to spin
down the blood (which goes quickly) and take a few microliters off the top
for isotope analysis. So, Susan spin quickly, refrigerated 'fuge if
possible.

Here'a a bit of history regarding Tom Hoering, and is connected to the
urine measurements. He was an accomplished glassblower, but often times he
would set his tie on fire or slice his fingers when making vacuum lines. He
INSISTED on providing a urine sample along with the blood of opportunity.
I, on the other hand, INSISTED that he spin down his own urine and seal the
sample in the capillary.

I also had a connection with NIH to collect bllod samples for me before the
days of HIV/AIDS so I had a host of blood samples from people in the
Washington, DC area. The summary of my findings were simple--blood and
urine and saliva were all about 7-8 per mil enriched in deuterium relative
to drinking water. People who talked alot (AKA verbal diarrhea) were
enriched in D by another 7 or 8 permil.

You might imagine why this work was never published.

Marilyn Fogel

Dr. Marilyn L. Fogel, Senior Scientist
Carnegie Institution of Washington
Geophysical Laboratory
5251 Broad Branch Rd., NW
Washington, DC 20015
USA
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