For the analytical community, method validation in some form or another is a natural extension of best practice in the analytical laboratory. However, the notion of method validation, and many aspects of detailed forensics analysis, are not well understood by most lawyers and judges.
This Monday morning session will be presided over by Janusz Pawliszyn of the University of Waterloo (Ontario, Canada).
Applications of miniaturized separation techniques for the analysis of illicit drugs and new psychoactive
Tom Brettell, an associate professor of chemistry at Cedar Crest College, recently conducted a survey of gas chromatography column use in forensic laboratories in the United States.
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.
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).
