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

    January 2016 in “ Analytical Chemistry ”
    Wilco F. Duvivier, Marc R. van Putten, Teris A. van Beek, Michel W. F. Nielen
    TLDR A new method can quickly and accurately detect drugs in hair.
    The study developed a fast, untargeted method using direct analysis in real time–high-resolution mass spectrometry (DART-HRMS) to scan intact locks of hair for drugs of abuse without extensive sample preparation. This method was validated for cocaine detection, meeting the Society of Hair Testing's cutoff value of 0.5 ng/mg. The DART-HRMS method showed no significant thermal degradation of cocaine and improved spatial resolution, allowing detection of multiple drugs in a single scan. Retrospective analysis of high-resolution data identified additional compounds and correlated well with reported drug use, demonstrating the method's potential for forensic applications.
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