Drugs hair analysis

In a recent report, HS-SPME was used for the extraction of amphetamines from human hair (142). Human hair analysis is gaining interest in the analysis of drugs of abuse, since it offers attractive features easy and unlimited sampling, and as the... 

Lew authors described antidepressant analysis in alternative specimens, such as hair or oral fluid. LC-CID-MS and MS/MS mass spectra libraries for identification of several drugs were employed by Muller et al. [32] for the detection of maprotiline, citalopram, and their desmethyl metabolites in authentic hair specimens extracted ions chromatograms were employed for subsequent antidepressant quantification. Also Klys et al. [33] applied LC-MS/MS to the analysis of blood, urine, and hair specimens in a fatal case due to clomipramine overdose in combination with alcohol. Blood clomipramine and norclomipramine concentrations explained the fatal outcome, and hair analysis confirmed that the deceased was on clomipramine treatment for, at least, 12 months prior to his death. With regard to oral fluid analysis, de Castro et al. [34] developed and validated a... 

Wada M, Nakashima K (2006) Hair analysis an excellent tool for confirmation of drug abuse. Anal Bioanal Chem 385 413—415... 

Kelly, R. C Mieczkowski, T Sweeney S. A., and Bourland, J. A. (2000). Hair analysis for drugs of abuse Hair color and race differentials or systematic differences in drug preferences Forensic Sci. Int. 107,63-86. 

Nakahara, Y. (1999). Hair analysis for abused and therapeutic drugs. /. Chromatogr. B 733, 161-180. 

Also in 1993, in Holmes v Hotel San Remo, the Appeals Tribunal State of Nevada Employment Security Department found that the claimant was ineligible for benefits due to discharge for misconduct violation of a known and reasonable rule. Employees were notified that the employer would comply with the Drug Free Workplace Act and random hair analysis testing would occur following a 90-day grace period. Holmes hair test indicated recent cocaine use. She was found to be ineligible for benefits. 

Hair analysis is only useful if the drugs that are measured in hair arise from ingestion rather than from other sources. Therefore, it is imperative that drugs arising from the external environment be removed prior to analysis. If this cannot be accomplished, the analysis must take the external drug into consideration either by accoimting... 

Drugs placed on the surface of hair must have some mechanism for entry into the hair matrix. If a solid is placed on the hair surface, most of it can be readily removed. However, after the deposition of the solid drugs onto the hair surface, hair may be bathed at some point in an aqueous media, be that sweat, sebum, normal hygienic solutions, or during the hair analysis procedure. Alternatively, an individual might come in contact with a solution of a drug by transfer of sweat from another individual. It is for these reasons that we and others studied solution phase transfer as the vector for admission and incorporation of drugs into hair. 

Yes. In situations where drugs are known to be present in the environment, it is easy to demonstrate that passive exposure can produce positive hair analysis results. In a study by Haley and Hoffmaim of the nicotine and cotinine concentrations in the hair of smokers and nonsmokers, there appeared to be a higher average of nicotine in the unwashed hair of smokers (average 8.75 ng/mg). However, nonsmokers also had an appreciable level of nicotine (average 2.42 ng/mg) which overlapped that of smokers. In contrast, cotinine (the nicotine metabolite) does appear to be a marker of tobacco use in this population. More recently, Kintz and co-workers and Kintz proposed a cutoff level of 2 ng of nicotine/mg of hair to ehminate nonsmoking individuals. Even at this level, some nonsmokers would be positive. 

Not all positive hair analysis results are due to passive exposure. Certainly, many positive results are due to ingestion of drugs. This section clearly illustrates that interpretation of the data must take passive exposure into consideration to determine the source of drugs in any given positive result. 

As Figure 3 further illustrates, there is usually some passage of time between ingestion and hair analysis. During that time, drugs loosely bound to the surface of the hair could be washed away by normal hygienic hair care. The removal of drugs... 

The evidence from this laboratory and from others reviewed in this chapter reinforces and extends the serious concern that external contamination of hair by drugs of abuse can easily occur. Any interpretation of hair analysis data should consider the prospect that the sample could have been externally contaminated. The pharmacokinetics of the incorporation of drugs into many tissues has been well elaborated. However, substantial additional information on the mechanisms for incorporation of drugs into hair, the decontamination of hair, the differentiation between exposure to exogenous and endogenous drugs, and the meaning of the presence of metabolites in the hair are needed before hair analysis can be employed in many forensic applications. 

Kidwell, D. A. and Blank, D. L., Deposition of drugs of abuse into human hair. Society of Forensic Toxicology Conference on Hair Analysis, May 26,1990. 

Henderson, G. L., Harkey, M. R., and Jones, R., Hair analysis for drugs of abuse. Final Report on Grant Number NIJ 90-N1J-CX-0012 to National Institutes of Justice, September 1993. 

Baumgartner, W. A. and Hill, V. A., Hair analysis for drugs of abuse decontamination issues, in I. Sunshine, ed.. Recent Developments in Therapeutic Drug Monitoring and Clinical Toxicology, Marcel Dekker, New York, 1992, pp. 577-597. 

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