Open AccessSimultaneous analysis of ten drugs of abuse in blood and urine matrix by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry: Implications for air crash investigation
Author(s) -
S.R. Santhosh,
S Sampath,
Atul Gupta,
Ashwini Kumar
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
indian journal of aerospace medicine/indian journal of aerospace medicine (online)
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2582-5348
pISSN - 0970-6666
DOI - 10.25259/ijasm_5_2019
Subject(s) - urine , chromatography , drugs of abuse , analyte , forensic toxicology , matrix (chemical analysis) , ion suppression in liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry , mass spectrometry , chemistry , medicine , pharmacology , drug , liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry
Many of abuse drugs can alter a person’s thinking and judgment, leading to health risks, including addiction, drugged driving and infectious disease. Use of illicit drugs by aviation employees is associated with a significantly increased risk of accidents. The detection and quantitation of drugs of abuse in blood is of growing interest in forensic and clinical toxicology. Generally, the screening for drugs of abuse is carried out by using commercially available immunoassay based urine cassettes; however, such results needs to be confirmed by advanced analytical tools like HPLC, GCMS and LCMS. There have been several attempts to develop confirmatory methods for drugs of abuse in blood and urine. Material and Methods: In the present study in our laboratory, a single method was attempted for simultaneous detection and quantification of 10 drugs of abuse in whole blood and urine matrix by GC-MS Selective Ion Monitoring (SIM) method. Results: Chromatographic separation was optimized and achieved for separation of all 10 compounds using Agilent DB-5MS column. Retention time (Rt), selectivity and sensitivity were achieved by measuring each analyte in Selective Ion Monitoring (SIM) mode. A simple sample preparation method was standardized for extraction of all 10 compounds from blood and urine. Conclusion: The developed method in the study permits identification of these analytes from same biological specimen in small quantities and the method is tested on blood and urine matrix spiked with known concentration of pure compounds.