Hair analysis: an excellent tool for confirmation of drug abuse

Analysis of cosmetic residues on a single human hair by ATR FT-IR microspectroscopy

In this work, ATR FT-IR spectra of single human hair and cosmetic residues on hair surface are successfully collected using a homemade dome-shaped Ge μIRE accessary installed on an infrared microscope. By collecting ATR spectra of hairs from the same person, the spectral patterns are identical and superimposed while different spectral features are observed from ATR spectra of hairs collected from different persons. The spectral differences depend on individual hair characteristics, chemical treatments, and cosmetics on hair surface. The "Contact-and-Collect" technique that transfers remarkable materials on the hair surface to the tip of the Ge μIRE enables an identification of cosmetics on a single hair. Moreover, the differences between un-split and split hairs are also studied in this report. These highly specific spectral features can be employed for unique identification or for differentiation of hairs based on the molecular structures of hairs and cosmetics on hairs.

A GC-MS method for the detection and quantitation of ten major drugs of abuse in human hair samples

A sensitive analytical method has been developed in order to identify and quantify major drugs of abuse (DOA), namely morphine, codeine, 6-monoacetylmorphine, cocaine, ecgonine methyl ester, benzoylecgonine, amphetamine, methamphetamine, methylenedioxymethamphetamine and methylenedioxyamphetamine in human hair. Samples of hair were extracted with methanol under ultrasonication at 50°C after a three step rinsing process to remove external contamination and dirt hair. Derivatization with BSTFA was selected in order to increase detection sensitivity of GC/MS analysis. Optimization of derivatization parameters was based on experiments for the selection of derivatization time, temperature and volume of derivatising agent. Validation of the method included evaluation of linearity which ranged from 2 to 350ng/mg of hair mean concentration for all DOA, evaluation of sensitivity, accuracy, precision and repeatability. Limits of detection ranged from 0.05 to 0.46ng/mg of hair. The developed method was applied for the analysis of hair samples obtained from three human subjects and were found positive in cocaine, and opiates.

Recent trends in analytical methods and separation techniques for drugs of abuse in hair

Hair analysis of drugs of abuse has been a subject of growing interest from a clinical, social and forensic perspective for years because of the broad time detection window after intake in comparison to urine and blood analysis. Over the last few years, hair analysis has gained increasing attention and recognition for the retrospective investigation of drug abuse in a wide variety of contexts, shown by the large number of applications developed. This review aims to provide an overview of the state of the art and the latest trends used in the literature from 2005 to the present in the analysis of drugs of abuse in hair, with a special focus on separation analytical techniques and their hyphenation with mass spectrometry detection. The most recently introduced sample preparation techniques are also addressed in this paper. The main strengths and weaknesses of all of these approaches are critically discussed by means of relevant applications.

Prevalence and Perceived Financial Costs of Marijuana versus Tobacco use among Urban Low-Income Pregnant Women

OBJECTIVE

To examine the relative prevalence of marijuana and tobacco use among low-income post-partum women, using self-report, urine, and hair testing data; and to further explore perceptions of the substances among postpartum women by evaluating perceived risk and monetary cost of prenatal marijuana versus tobacco use.

METHODS

Data from two studies were available for a total of 100 (Study 1) and 50 (Study 2) low-income, primarily African-American post-partum women. Study 1 participants completed brief self-report measures of substance use as well as urine and hair samples; study 2 participants completed a brief opinion survey regarding the risks and monetary costs of prenatal marijuana use.

RESULTS

In Study 1, the self-reported prevalence of any tobacco or marijuana use in the past three months was 17% and 11%, respectively. However, objectively-defined marijuana use was more prevalent than self-reported tobacco use: 14% tested positive for marijuana by urinalysis, and 28% by hair analysis. Study 2 participants were more likely to believe that there is a safe level of marijuana use during pregnancy, and nearly half believed that using marijuana during pregnancy was less expensive than smoking cigarettes.

CONCLUSION

Marijuana use may be as or more prevalent than tobacco use among low-income, African-American pregnant women. These findings may in part be attributable to perceptions of roughly equivalent cost and the lack of a clear public health message regarding prenatal marijuana use, combined with growing pro-marijuana advocacy. A broader public health response to address prenatal marijuana use, along with other substances of abuse, is needed.

Drug use during pregnancy: validating the Drug Abuse Screening Test against physiological measures

This study examined the ability of the Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST-10) to identify prenatal drug use using hair and urine samples as criterion variables. In addition, this study was the first to use "best practices," such as anonymity, ACASI technology, and a written screener, to facilitate disclosure in this vulnerable population. 300 low-income, post-partum women (90.3% African-American) were recruited from their hospital rooms after giving birth. Participation involved (a) completing a computerized assessment battery that contained the DAST-10 and (b) providing urine and hair samples. Twenty-four percent of the sample had a positive drug screen. The sensitivity of the DAST-10 was only .47. Nineteen percent of the sample had a positive toxicology screen but denied drug use on the DAST-10. Findings suggest that brief drug use screeners may have limited utility for pregnant women and that efforts to facilitate disclosure via reassurance and anonymity are unlikely to be sufficient in this population.

Single hair cocaine consumption monitoring by mass spectrometric imaging

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometric imaging (MALDI-MSI) was used to image the distribution of cocaine and its metabolites in intact single hair samples from chronic users down to a concentration of 5 ng/mg. Acquisitions were performed in rastering mode, at a speed of 1 mm/s and in the selected reaction monitoring (SRM) mode on a MALDI triple quadrupole linear ion trap fitted with a high repetition rate laser (1 kHz). Compared to traditional methods based on LC-MS/MS or GC-MS(/MS) which require to segment the hair to obtain spatial resolution, MALDI-MSI, with a straightforward sample preparation beforehand, allowed obtaining a spatial resolution of 1 mm and thus the chronological information about cocaine consumption contained in a single intact hair over several months could be monitored. The analysis time of an intact single hair sample of 6 cm is approximately of 6 min. Cocaine and its metabolites benzoylecgonine, ethylcocaine, and norcocaine were investigated in nine sets of hair samples for forensic purposes. The analyses were accomplished by spraying α-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid (CHCA), 4-chloro-α-cyano-cinnamic acid (Cl-CCA), or (E)-2-cyano-3-(naphthalen-2-yl)acrylic acid (NpCCA) as MALDI matrices. We also propose a rapid strategy for sensitive confirmatory analyses with both MS/MS and MS(3) experiments performed directly on intact hair samples. Since only part of the hair strand is analyzed, additional analyses are possible at any time on the remaining hair from the strand.

Drug-facilitated crimes: definitions, prevalence, difficulties and recommendations. A review

Drug-facilitated crimes are not a new phenomenon but rather an age-old practice. However, reports of drug-facilitated crimes have significantly increased since the mid-1990s. Victims of these crimes or offences report that they were robbed or assaulted while incapacitated by a drug. Most often, these cases have involved strong central nervous system depressant drugs, which have the capability of preventing individuals from consenting to the action of the perpetrator of fighting off their attackers. For all intents and purposes, the drug acts as the offender's weapon, therefore many jurisdictions require analytical proof of its presence, which helps substantiate the alleged victim's claim. This review was undertaken to identify the evolutionary process in the current understanding of allegations of these crimes or offences, so that whoever works in this field may gain a better understanding of the complexities involved in such cases. This review provides several definitions of drug-facilitated crimes, their prevalence in European and English-speaking countries, a list of intoxicating substances, which have so far been incriminated or been suspected to be involved in these crimes or offences, some of the more common difficulties encountered in the investigation, and recommendations to improve detection of the drugs through toxicological analyses.

Analytical methods for abused drugs in hair and their applications

Hair has been focused on for its usability as an alternative biological specimen to blood and urine for determining drugs of abuse in fields such as forensic and toxicological sciences because hair can be used to elucidate the long intake history of abused drugs compared with blood and urine. Hair analysis consists of several pretreatment steps, such as washing out contaminates from hair, extraction of target compounds from hair, and cleanup for instrumental analysis. Each step includes characteristic and independent features for the class of drugs, e.g., stimulants, narcotics, cannabis, and other medicaments. In this review, recently developed methods to determine drugs of abuse are summarized, and the pretreatment steps as well as the sensitivity and applicability are critically discussed.

A sensitive semi-micro column HPLC method with peroxyoxalate chemiluminescence detection and column switching for determination of MDMA-related compounds in hair

A sensitive semi-micro column HPLC method with peroxyoxalate chemiluminescence (POCL) detection and column switching has been developed for simultaneous determination of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and related compounds, for example 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine, methamphetamine, and amphetamine, in hair. After digestion of the hair with 1 mol L-1 sodium hydroxide the compounds were extracted with n-heptane and derivatized with 4-(N,N-dimethylaminosulfonyl)-7-fluoro-2,1,3-benzoxadiazole. A mixture of hydrogen peroxide and bis(2,4,5-trichloro-6-carbopentoxyphenyl)oxalate in acetonitrile was used as post-column CL reagent. Calibration plots showed linearity was good (r=0.999); detection limits were 0.02-0.16 ng mg-1 hair at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3. The precision of the method, as RSD (n=5), in intra-day and inter-day assays was better than 5.0 and 6.9%, respectively. The proposed method was sufficiently sensitive to detect low ng mg-1 levels of MDMA and related compounds in hair, and could be used for quantification of the compounds in hair samples from patients treated in a chemical dependency unit.