Detection of Drugs in Hair

Keywords SFE opiates pharmaceuticals cocaine methadone fortifying MS/MS Introduction 

SFE is used for extraction in this application, whereby it is assumed that all the active substances which can be determined by GC can be extracted with supercritical CO2 (Sachs and Uhl, 1992). SFE has the advantage of a higher extraction rate, as, unlike other procedures, it takes only a few minutes. In addition, the extraction unit can be coupled directly to the GC-MS allowing the method to be automated and ever smaller quantities to be analyzed. 

Sample preparation A bundle of hair of pencil thickness, fixed that movement of the individual hairs over one another is inhibited, sections of 1 cm length are cut and ground 

As it is known that the more lipophilic substances, such as heroin, cocaine and THC carboxylic acid can be deposited directly in hair and do not need to be deriva-tized for chromatography, SFE can in fact be coupled directly with GC-MS/MS (Traldi et a/., 1991). 

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In Tables 1.1 to 1.3, the immunological methods for the detection of drugs in hair are listed by substances. Additional information is given about decontamination and workup procedures, sensitivity, and whether or not a confirmation method was used. 

GC/MS is the most powerful tool for the detection of drugs in hair. The most... 

Hair analysis by chromatographic procedures was reviewed in 1992 by Moeller. Analytical methods for the detection of drugs in hair were reviewed for amphet-amines, °7 cannabinoids, cocaine, ° and opiates. "... 

Chromatographic techniques are the most powerful tools for the identification and quantitation of drugs in hair due to their separation ability and their detection sensitivity. TLC, HPLC, and GC were used in several cases for the detection of various drugs and/or drug metabolites. However, the majority of detection procedures for individual compounds are based on GC/MS. ° ... 

The detection of cannabinoids in hair by GC/MS seems to be more difficult because there are only seven reports (Table 5) in the reviewed literature, although it is probably the most common drug of abuse in the U.S. and Europe. Balabanova et al. published a method with RIA detection of cannabinoids and GC/MS confirmation of A9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). However, the selected ion monitoring (SIM) chromatograms shown in the publication are very poor. - For the detection... 

Piischel, K., Thomasch, R, and Arnold, W., Opiate levels in hair. Forensic Sci. Int., 21, 181, 1983. Kintz, P., Ludes, B., and Mangin, R, Detection of drugs in human hair using Abbott ADx with confirmation by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS),. Forensic Sci., 37, 328, 1992. Balabanova, S. and Wolf, H. U., Determination of methadone in human hair by radioimmunoassay, Z. Rechtsmed., 102, 1, 1989. 

Until March 1994, 23 papers dealing with the detection of amphetamine in hair have been published. A characteristic point is that 18 out of the 23 papers about amphetamines in hair have been reported by Japanese researchers, which obviously marks the prominence of such drug consumption in the Far East. Recently, Nakahara published an excellent review on the detection of amphetamine in hair. Table 8 lists the workup and the main findings of each paper. 

It can also identify the presence of drugs in hair, which increases the window of detection from hours and days (after which body fluids are no longer useful) to months and even years. It was employed for the first time at an athletic event in 1955 to detect drugs in athletes at a cycling competition in France. (Twenty percent of those tests were positive.) Mass spectrometry is also used to identify residues of arson fires and explosives from post-explosion residues, and to analyze paints, adhesives, and fibers. 

Further evidence that sweat plays a role in the incorporation of drugs into hair may be gained from the time of administration and appearance of drugs in the hair. Cone and Piischel et al. separately reported that codeine could be detected in beard hair 24 h after administration. A 5- to 7-d period would be necessary before the beard hair, which was forming during the period of maximum blood levels of the codeine, emerged above the skin. Cone suggested that codeine secretion in sweat and its incorporation into hair could account for its initial appearance in the beard hair. 

Hair as a marker of exposure to toxicants has been of considerable interest to toxicologists for more than a hundred years. Casper reported in 1857 the analysis of hair for the detection of poisons in his famous Practisches Handbuch der gerichtlichen Median. He referred to Hoppe-Seyler, who had found arsenic in the hair of an 11-year-buried body and had discussed the possibility that the metal was incorporated before death. About 100 years later, the first report about the detection of an organic drug in hair was published. Goldblum et al. described an ultraviolet method to detect barbiturates in guinea pig hair. 

The data presented here only focus on methods for the detection and quantitation of drugs and their metabolites in hair. The issue of incorporation of drugs into hair or external contamination cannot be discussed in detail. 

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