The Method for Estimating Hemoglobin

Hemoglobin is a molecule in your blood that carries oxygen from your lungs throughout your body and brings carbon dioxide back to the lungs. It is made up of four protein molecules. Within this molecule, you will find the iron that is responsible for moving oxygen and carbon dioxide and that gives blood its red color. Hemoglobin tests are vital when testing for anemia and diabetes as well as carbon monoxide poisoning, since changes in hemoglobin can affect the amount of oxygen the blood carries.

Complete Blood Count

• A hemoglobin test can be done during a routine complete blood count, or CBC. Once a blood sample is obtained, the sample is processed through a machine that breaks down and isolates hemoglobin. It takes the separated hemoglobin and combines it with a cyanide-containing chemical, shines a light through the mixture, and measures how much light is absorbed at 540 nanometers to determine the hemoglobin level.

Dare Method

• There is also a relatively simple test known as the Dare method. With this method, blood samples are compressed between glass and the color is then compared with a color wheel of blood samples with known hemoglobin levels.

Tallqvist's Method

• Another similar method is called Tallqvist's method, in which the blood sample is looked at and simply compared with a lithographic color scale. While simple, both the Dare and the Tallqvist methods are extremely inaccurate because true blood color comes from actual oxygen level and not hemoglobin level.