Thallium, Urine
Test Mnemonic
UTHAL
CPT Codes
- 83018 - QTY (1)
Includes
- Hours Collected
- Total Volume
- Thallium, Urine - ratio to CRT
- Thallium, Urine per volume
- Thallium, Urine per 24 hour
- Creatinine, Urine per volume
- Creatinine, Urine per 24 hour
Performing Laboratory
ARUP
FDA Category
Laboratory Developed Test
Specimen Requirements
| Volume | Type | Container | Collect Temperature | Transport Temperature | Special Instructions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 mL | Urine, 24-hour (well-mixed) | Plastic container | Refrigerate during collection. | Refrigerated | Patient Prep: High concentrations of iodine may interfere with testing. Diet, medication, and nutritional supplements may introduce interfering substances. Patients should be encouraged to discontinue nutritional supplements, vitamins, minerals, non-essential over-the-counter medications (upon the advice of their physician). Avoid iodinated or gadolinium-based contrast media for at least 72 hours or 14 days for patients with impaired kidney function. Collection: Collect in a plastic container, mix well and aliquot into a trace metal free transport tube (ARUP #43116). Record total volume and collection time interval on specimen. |
Alternate Specimen Requirements
| Volume | Type | Container | Collect Temperature | Transport Temperature | Special Instructions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 mL | Urine, random | Plastic container | Refrigerated | Patient Prep: High concentrations of iodine may interfere with testing. Diet, medication, and nutritional supplements may introduce interfering substances. Patients should be encouraged to discontinue nutritional supplements, vitamins, minerals, non-essential over-the-counter medications (upon the advice of their physician). Avoid iodinated or gadolinium-based contrast media for at least 72 hours or 14 days for patients with impaired kidney function. Collection: Collect in a plastic container, mix well and aliquot into a trace metal free transport tube (ARUP #43116). Record total volume and collection time interval on specimen. |
Minimum Specimen Requirements
| Volume | Type | Container | Collect Temperature | Transport Temperature | Special Instructions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 mL |
Stability
| Environmental Condition | Description |
|---|---|
| Ambient | 1 week |
| Refrigerated | 2 weeks |
| Frozen | 1 year |
Days Performed
Sun - Sat
Turnaround Time
2 - 6 days
Methodology
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Inductively Coupled Plasma / Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) |
Reference Range
| Thallium, Urine (24-hour) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sex | Age From | Age To | Type | Range | Range Unit |
| Normal | 0.0 - 0.4 | ug/d | |||
| Thallium, Urine per volume | |||||
| Sex | Age From | Age To | Type | Range | Range Unit |
| Normal | 0.0 - 2.0 | ug/L | |||
| Thallium, Urine ratio to creatinine | |||||
| Sex | Age From | Age To | Type | Range | Range Unit |
| Normal | 0.0 - 2.0 | ug/g crt |
Special Info
Patient Prep: High concentrations of iodine may interfere with testing. Diet, medication, and nutritional supplements may introduce interfering substances. Patients should be encouraged to discontinue nutritional supplements, vitamins, minerals, non-essential over-the-counter medications (upon the advice of their physician). Avoid iodinated or gadolinium-based contrast media for at least 72 hours or 14 days for patients with impaired kidney function. Collection: Collect in a plastic container, mix well and aliquot into a trace metal free transport tube (ARUP #43116). Record total volume and collection time interval on specimen. Urine transported in a non-trace element-free tube or contaminated with iodine, gadolinium, blood, fecal material or acid preservative will be rejected. This test is New York DOH approved.
Clinical Info
This test may be useful as a biomarker of chronic thallium exposure. Urinary thallium levels may reflect recent or chronic exposure, and the presence of thallium in urine after acute exposure may persist for up to several weeks. Concentrations less than 5 µg/L are unlikely to cause adverse health effects while concentrations greater than 500 µg/L have been associated with clinical poisoning. After severe thallium poisoning, reported symptoms have varying times of onset and include gastroenteritis, multi-organ failure and neurologic injury. Peripheral neuropathy and alopecia are well-documented effects of acute and chronic exposure. Human health effects from low level thallium exposure are unknown.