Forensics, Narcotics

Dried blood spot (DBS) sampling and high performance liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC–MS) has been demonstrated in the routine testing of athletes for anabolic steroid esters.

Tom Brettell recently conducted a survey of GC column use in forensic laboratories in the United States. Here is what he found, in terms of the types of columns they are using and the problems they face.

This article reviews key developments and potential advantages of using LC–MS for forensic toxicology, including the option of using oral fluid samples.

This Tuesday afternoon session will be presided over by Janusz Pawliszyn of the University of Waterloo.

LECO Corporation

This article discusses the novel legal highs that appear on the market and how forensic laboratories work to keep ahead of the game.

This Wednesday afternoon session will include discussion of LC?MS analysis of cathinones in urine, ESI-MS analysis of compounds in mahogany wood, MS with a dual ionization source for analyzing a drug, a species-specific dating technique for human bone, forensic analysis of polymorphisms in hair shaft protein, and LC?MS-MS analysis of opioids in urine.

Many drugs that are sold on the street have been modified or diluted by the dealer and as a consequence forensic laboratories are overwhelmed with samples, which can take a long time to process.

The current state of economic affairs is tumultous; as the economy struggles to bounce back, companies across all industries are becoming more creative in finding ways to reduce costs without sacrificing the quality of their goods or services. According to a recent survey conducted by the Society of Forensic Toxicologists (SOFT), 64.5% of forensic labs surveyed are implementing changes, or plan to implement changes, as a result of limited resources.

Banned substance use in sports still remains a controversial and highly publicized subject. A team of scientists from the Italian Sports Medicine Federation in Rome, Italy, has developed a screening procedure specifically designed for the detection of saccharides and polyalcohols in human urine, focusing specifically on dextran, hydroxyethyl starch and mannitol.

Click here to view the complete e-Separation Solutions newsletter from August 4, 2011.

A plastic-wrapped bundle of herbs packaged and sent halfway around the world. A cardboard box filled with blister-packaged counterfeit tablets. A bag of coffee. One-half tablet, either cut or bitten. A single open capsule with only a residue of powder remaining. These are just a few of the samples that have been seized by law enforcement agencies, analyzed by forensic chemists and identified as containing illegally-distributed sildenafil, the active ingredient in Viagra.

Forensic Determination of Sildenafil and Vardenafil in Seized Evidence

In the wake of the recent dioxin poisoning scare in Europe that sparked import bans on some German farm products, GC-MS is emerging as the perfect analytical tool for forensic analysis.

Trimega Laboratories has opened a new lab in Manchester, UK that will be used to assist the government with its forensic toxicology workload in the wake of the closure of the Forensic Science Service.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Application Note

Cocaine is a central nervous system stimulant derived from Erythroxylon coca.

The identification and quantification of drugs of abuse in blood (plasma, serum, whole blood) has become very common in the forensic medicine laboratory. Liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) has been traditionally used at a basic pH (pH = 9) for the extraction of amphetamines, cocaine and its metabolites, and opiates from blood.

Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. (San Jose, California) announced that Japan?s National Police Agency (NPA) has purchased 51 linear ion trap mass spectrometers and 27 FT-IR spectrometers.

Scientists at the National Police Scientific Institute in Ecully, France have been analyzing solvents trapped within crystals of cocaine hydrochloride with a static headspace-gas chromatography method. This method helps them ascertain the drug's country of origion, which can help determine the distribution chain.

Researchers at the University of Utah's (Salt Lake City) Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory developed a test for testosterone and epitestosterone in urine that uses liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry detection (LC-MS-MS).

Illegal drug use worldwide is at an all-time high. There is a crucial need for fast and accurate analysis to positively identify suspected drugs in criminal investigations. Gas chromatography combined with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC–TOFMS) can be a valuable tool for drug testing in forensic crime laboratories. Method development and GC–TOFMS experimentation was conducted in cooperation with a local crime laboratory. The laboratory testing presented will illustrate highly efficient methods and data developed for crime labs that assist in the battle against illegal drugs. Many drug classes have chemical properties that present particular analytical challenges, such as poor detector response, chemical lability, or poor chromatographic peak shape. This article presents GC–TOFMS methods developed for several major drug classes and chemical functionalities. The major drugs included in the initial method development are methamphetamine, ecstasy, and heroin. Robust and accurate..

Agilent Technologies Inc. has announced that it has hosted the first of three leadership delegations from China's Anti-Doping Agency, as China prepares for the 2008 Olympic Games.

In the last decade, research on the detection of all groups of doping agents has been investigated by LC-MS, and routine LC-MS screening applications are now available for almost all classes of doping agents.

Being here in New Orleans, which is one of the busiest port cities in the U.S., the topic of Homeland Security seems particularly relevant. So I attended Session 1490, "Homeland Security and Forensic Analysis." It proved to be very interesting.

Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. (Waltham, MA) announces that the China Doping Control Center (CDCC) has selected Thermo Scientific instruments and software for its sports testing program at the 29th Olympic Games in Beijing. The CDCC has been accredited by the Chinese government and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to conduct all doping control analyses during the 2008 Olympic Games.

The Victoria Advocate (Victoria, TX) published an article about the random testing of high school student-athletes in the Texas public school system. The article is entitled "No Steroid Test is Foolproof" and focuses on the process of drug testing using gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS).

According to an Agilent Technologies publication on sports drug testing (1), the first screening step (with a urine sample, for example) typically is performed using gas chromatography (GC).

The Ancient Greeks ate sheep testicles before competitions. Contemporary athletes have designer steroids. What techniques can we use to test our athletes for banned substances?

Because of progress in liquid chromatography/time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC/TOF-MS) instrumentation, data processing and reporting, the measurement of compounds' accurate masses is becoming routine practice in screening analysis based on target databases. As such databases of monoisotopic masses can be easily updated with recent data from the literature; rapid characterization of new compounds and metabolites is possible without the need for primary reference standards. This approach has already been established in comprehensive toxicological urine screening and in analysis of drugs-of-abuse in seized street drug samples. Currently, a mass accuracy within 5 ppm can be routinely achieved, and confirmation via a numerical isotopic pattern match (SigmaFit) is provided by a new generation LC/TOF-MS instrument.