Members posters

This poster describes a simple, sensitive, and reproducible quantitative method. It should be of great assistance to those analysts actively involved with the LC/MS/MS analysis of phenazepam in biological matrices, as well as an efficient method of extraction for phenazepam.

The aim was to develop a SPE procedure in which both psilocybin/psilocin could be efficiently extracted from urine samples. Psilocin can be extracted from urine at pH 6 and eluted with ethyl acetate containing 2% ammonium hydroxide but psilocybin requires a more polar solvent system i.e. methanol containing 4% ammonium hydroxide.

Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier Transform Infra Red Spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) was evaluated as a presumptive test for illicit drugs. Five hundred and forty five unknown substances collected between November 2009 and May 2010 from three large London nightclubs were analysed first by ATR-FTIR and later screened by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). The identification of mephedrone, ketamine, methamfetamine, plaster-of-Paris tablets, MDMA in powder and crystalline forms were successful in over 99 % of the true positive samples by ATR-FTIR. The success rate was lower in the case of cocaine (43 %), piperazine derivatives (31-61 %) and MDMA in tablets (50%). Seventy two liquid samples were found to be GBL. Ninety-six per cent of identifications were achieved through the TICTAC library, created in our laboratory. This study indicates that portable ATR-FTIR will be a useful tool for the presumptive testing of the new synthetic powdered drugs available in high purity on the streets providing that the appropriate library is used.

Benzodiazepines are widely used for anxiety and sleep disorders such as restless leg syndrome. These drugs are also often prescribed in conjunction with pain management medications, due to their ability to relieve pain caused by stress and anxiety. In collaboration with Northern Tier Research, Restek has developed a fast chromatographic method for the analysis of either extracted or diluted benzodiazepines.

Analysis of “repeat offending” rates amongst laboratories reporting false-positive results in the Heathcontrol drugs of abuse EQA scheme.

The Heathcontrol EQA scheme contacted all participants that produced a false-positive analytical result or an error in integrity test reports for the 66 samples distributed between February 2003 and May 2008. Samples were circulated in sets of 3 at quarterly intervals – 22 sets in all.

-Data on blood alcohol concentrations (BAC) are routinely collected from road traffic accident (RTA) fatalities in Great Britain on behalf of the Department for Transport (DfT).
-However, no equivalent system is in place for collecting data on drugs and medicines.
-The most recent DfT-funded research on the incidence of drugs and medicines in GB RTA fatalities was conducted over 10 years ago.
-All recent drug drive government policy has been based on these data.
-to inform policy and provide an accurate picture of the current incidence of drugs in RTA fatalities, new data needs to be collected.

Methods for the analysis of cannabinoids in biological matrices are continually being developed, specifically to achieve the sensitivity required for the detection of 11-nor-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid (THC-COOH) in hair. One of the methods used for the detection of cannabinoids that has been widely published is the use of GC-MS with negative chemical ionisation (NCI) detection. This technique is employed to achieve greater detection limits than can be achieved with electron impact (EI) ionisation.
Traditionally, the most common derivatising reagent used for the analysis of cannabis under EI conditions is the silylation reagent N-methyl-N-(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide (TMS). However, to make analytes suitable for NCI (i.e to make the analytes more electronegative), derivatisation using fluorinated anhydrides such as trifluoroacetic anhydride (TFAA) is employed (1). This maximises sensitivity for detection of THC-COOH. As it is not only the analysis of THC-COOH that is of interest, the same methods are often employed to analyse for the other cannabinoids, including Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD).
During our method development for the analysis of cannabinoids using two dimensional GC-MS with NCI detection, it has been observed that derivatisation with TFAA elucidates the same retention time and mass spectrum for THC-TFAA and CBD-TFAA.

The number of cases of individuals being discovered with plastic bags over their head and empty helium cylinders beside them has increased dramatically in the last few years. According to a report recently published by St.George's University 3, the number of helium-related deaths more than tripled between 2006 and 2008. There were 25 recorded cases of death involving helium in the UK in 2008, and 89% of these were deemed to be suicide. The remaining 11% of deaths were given open verdicts by HM Coroner.

The rationale behind using the PlexaDAS SPE cartridge is to allow a generic extraction method to be used across a range of drug classes (Opiates (inc. 6-MAM)/Amphetamines /Cocaine Benzoylecgonine)/Methadone/Benzodiaziapine/Ketamine/Zopiclonefrom urine.

Allowing single extraction methods to be utilized across a range of drugs thus minimizing the number of different solvents and buffers required. This minimisesthe possibility of human errors being made when working up the samples.

The ultimate aim of this work is to minimise the variety and complexity of the methods required in a commercial laboratory to extract a range of basic drugs from a buffered saliva sample. Saliva collection is a robust, high integrity and reliable method for on-site sampling, where sample manipulation or adulteration is difficult.