Ocfentanil Testing in Hair from a Fatality Case: Comparative Analysis of a Lock of Hair Versus a Single Hair Fiber

July 2021 in “ Forensic science international ”

Nathalie Allibé, F. Paysant, Théo Willeman, Françoise Stanke‐Labesque, V. Scolan, Hélène Eysseric

hair analysis single hair analysis lock of hair ocfentanil new synthetic opioid NSO chronic use drug concentration hair segments hair testing single hair testing hair lock OcF synthetic opioid drug use history

Studysummary This study found that segmental single hair analysis produced ocfentanil concentration profiles similar to those from hair lock analysis, supporting its use in cases with limited samples. Our plain-language summary of this paper — not a Tressless recommendation.

The study aimed to investigate the chronic use of a new synthetic opioid (NSO), ocfentanil (OcF), in a fatality case by analyzing its concentration in hair samples. The researchers used two approaches: analyzing a lock of hair and a single hair strand. The results showed similar profiles for both methods, validating the use of single hair analysis, especially when the amount of hair collected is small. However, at least six single hairs need to be analyzed to obtain relevant results. The presence of OcF in all segments of hair indicated chronic use of the drug. This study contributes to the understanding of NSO detection in hair, which can provide information about drug use history.

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research Untargeted Scanning of Hair for Drugs of Abuse by Direct Analysis in Real Time–High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry

34 citations , January 2016 in “Analytical Chemistry”

This study reports that a new DART-HRMS method can effectively analyze intact hair for drug use timelines, with cocaine detection aligning with forensic standards and identifying multiple drugs from high-resolution data.