Schmidt and M ller-Plathe: Stability of/?O 2 , pCO 2 and pH: Influence of storage temperature and blood cell metabolism 767 Eur. J. Clin. Chem. Clin. Biochem. Vol. 30, 1992, pp. 767-773 © 1992 Summary: Influences of storage temperature and blood cell metabolism in different types of syringes were investigated. Experiments were performed on blood samples with normal and elevated leukocyte counts. After equilibration with gas mixtures at normal pO 2 (86 mm Hg/11.5 kPa) and elevated pO 2 (140 mm Hg/18.7 kPa), sequential blood gas analyses were done within one hour. Storage temperatures were 4 °C or 22 °C.In the first group of experiments we compared glass samplers with plastic syringes at different storage temperatures with regard to deviations of blood gas concentrations. The analysed samples had a normal cell count. Blood stored in glass syringes in ice water served as the reference, and it displayed virtually no changes. The deviations of pCO 2 and pH were relatively small. In plastic syringes the greatest increases for pO 2 occurred after storage at 4 °C, which can be explained by the increased solubility of oxygen and the higher O 2 affinity of haemoglobin at 4 °C. When stored at room temperature, the deviations in plastic syringes were smaller.In a second group of experiments, the influence of cell metabolism was studied. Blood gases were analysed in samples with elevated leukocyte counts (20 χ 10 9