Hair analysis of synthetic cannabinoids: does the handling of herbal mixtures affect the analyst’s hair concentration?

Abstract

When narcotics police officers or other persons handling drug materials at work are suspected of consuming drugs, hair analysis may be useful to prove or refute such suspicion. However, it is known for many drugs that differentiation between actual drug use and external contamination can be challenging or sometimes impossible. This study evaluated the extent of external contamination caused by handling of synthetic cannabinoidcontaining materials under realistic conditions in a forensic laboratory. Hair samples of laboratory staff were systematically analyzed for synthetic cannabinoids with a validated liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method after a large quantity of seized ''legal high'' products was analyzed in our laboratory. Furthermore, hair samples of laboratory staff not directly in contact with the drug materials and close relatives of exposed subjects were analyzed to check for cross contamination. All samples of persons who were in direct contact with drug materials tested positive for at least one synthetic cannabinoid. Concentrations ranged from trace amounts up to a maximum of 170 pg/mg (JWH-210), and roughly reflected the duration and intensity of exposure. Unexpectedly, subjects without direct contact with drug material also showed measurable concentrations of synthetic cannabinoids in hair. Concentrations caused by contamination were within the typical range found in known users of these drugs and could lead to false positive results and incorrect conclusions. Therefore, we recommend that body fluids should be simultaneously analyzed to unambiguously prove use of these drugs.

Multi‐class analysis of new psychoactive substances and metabolites in hair by pressurized liquid extraction coupled to HPLC‐HRMS

“…There is still limited literature available about the analysis of NPS in hair samples and most methods involve gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC‐MS) or (ultra)high performance liquid chromatography((U)HPLC)‐MS(/MS) as detection techniques and are limited to a single analyte or to groups of related substances (i.e., synthetic cannabinoids or cathinones together with phenetylamines or piperazines). Strano‐Rossi et al .…”

“…Analyte extraction from hair is a fundamental part of any analytical method and has a significant influence on most of the subsequent analytical steps and data quality . NPS extraction has been frequently performed by NaOH matrix dissolution followed by a suitable clean up step such as liquid‐liquid extraction (LLE) or solid‐phase extraction (SPE) . However, cathinones are unstable under these conditions .…”

“…The detection of metabolites present in hair is, however, a desirable feature since it might facilitate differentiation between passive contamination and actual drug use. [8,9] There is still limited literature available about the analysis of NPS in hair samples and most methods involve gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS) [10][11][12][13] or (ultra)high performance liquid chromatography((U)HPLC)-MS(/MS) [7,8,[14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] as detection techniques and are limited to a single analyte or to groups of related substances (i.e., synthetic cannabinoids or cathinones together with phenetylamines or piperazines). Strano-Rossi et al described the analysis of over 50 drugs, although their procedure was split into two separate extractions and included independent analytical methods for synthetic cannabinoids and cathinones.…”

Hair analysis for JWH-018, JWH-122, and JWH-210 after passive in vivo exposure to synthetic cannabinoid smoke

“…These findings can be explained by the work-related procedural handling of the substances and respective herbal mixtures in the laboratory by the participants [19]. No metabolites of synthetic cannabinoids were detected in the urine samples of all participants collected each week during the exposure period.…”

Detection of New Psychoactive Substances

“…The issue of possible external contamination has been recently raised [66,73]. These studies aimed to evaluate the extent of external contamination caused by handling of SC containing drug material under realistic conditions in a forensic laboratory.…”