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Hair follicle drug testing detects evidence of drug use or misuse in a sample of hair. Drug testing can screen for the use of illegal drugs, as well as the misuse of prescription medications, over-the-counter medicines, and legal substances including alcohol and tobacco. During hair follicle drug testing, scissors are used to remove a small sample of hair. Compared to other forms of drug testing, hair follicle drug testing offers advantages such as a long detection window and the ability to estimate patterns of drug use over time. Drug use refers to the use of illegal substances. Hair follicle drug testing may be used over other types of drug tests because of its ability to show a longer history of drug exposure. This type of test may be helpful when testing for chronic drug use or misuse, understanding long-term patterns of use, and confirming periods of abstinence. Hair follicle drug testing may be used in several ways:. Hair follicle drug tests identify drugs or drug metabolites in a sample of hair. A drug metabolite is a substance that is generated in the body as a drug is being broken down and eliminated. Once a drug is consumed, it enters the bloodstream and travels throughout the body. As the drug is broken down in the body, drugs and drug metabolites enter the core of the hair through the hair follicle, sweat glands, and oil glands on the scalp. Drugs and drug metabolites remain in the hair as it grows, which occurs at a rate of about one-half inch each month. Some drug metabolites attach to melanin, the part of a hair follicle that gives hair its color. Hair follicle drug testing has a longer window of detection than other types of drug tests. While drug use and misuse may not appear in the hair until 7 to 10 days after drug exposure, once it enters the hair it remains for weeks, months, or even years. While testing hair can provide information about patterns of drug exposure, hair follicle drug testing cannot detect current intoxication. How long drugs remain detectable in hair is called the window of detection. The length of the detection window varies based on a number of factors, including the amount and frequency of drug use or misuse and the rate at which the drug is metabolized in the body. The window of detection also varies based on the amount of hair tested. Although longer samples of hair can be tested for drug exposure over a longer period of time, a standard sample of hair from the scalp is 1. A hair sample taken from a different part of the body where hair grows more slowly may have a detection window of up to 12 months. A hair follicle drug test may focus on detecting one specific drug in the hair or on detecting several substances in a hair follicle drug panel. One commonly used hair follicle drug panel looks for evidence of the use of five drugs or drug classes: marijuana, amphetamines, cocaine, PCP, and opioids. Hair follicle drug testing is used in workplace testing, legal and forensic testing, medical testing, and for measuring the patterns of illegal and prescription drug use. The use of drug tests is impacted by federal, state, and local laws. Professional organizations advocate for the ethical use of drug testing, often emphasizing the importance of patient education and consent before conducting a drug test. Many parents consider using drug testing as a tool to prevent or confirm the use or misuse of drugs in children and adolescents. The American Academy of Pediatrics advises against this practice, citing the lack of evidence that drug testing reduces drug use in children and adolescents, the potential for misinterpreting test results, and the negative impact on the relationships between parents and children caused by testing. A sample of hair can be collected at home, at a laboratory, or in a medical setting. Hair follicle drug testing can be ordered by a doctor or an administrator of a program that requires drug testing. Hair follicle drug tests can also be purchased through retailers without a prescription. At-home collection kits allow users to collect hair samples and mail them to a laboratory for analysis. At-home hair follicle drug test kits are available for purchase online and over-the-counter at a variety of retailers. Some at-home hair follicle drug tests look for only one type of drug while others offer test panels that look for several drugs at once. The cost of hair follicle drug testing depends on where a sample is collected, the type of hair follicle drug test ordered, and who is paying for testing. In other cases, patients may choose to pay out-of-pocket for laboratory-based or at-home collection kits. Once collected, hair samples are sent to a laboratory for testing. In some cases, the collection of a hair sample will be performed by a trained professional to prevent tampering, contamination, or substitution of the sample. Before taking a hair follicle drug test, patients should ask the organization requiring drug testing about requirements for hair sample collection. Although there are no special precautions necessary before a hair follicle drug test, patients should inform their doctor of medications or supplements that have recently been taken. Patients should also inform their doctor of any recent hair treatments, including shampooing, as these may affect test results. Collecting a sample of hair at a laboratory or at home involves cutting a lock of hair about the thickness of a pencil from the back of the head using scissors. During the collection process, the person cutting the hair should wear gloves to avoid contamination of the hair sample. A standard sample of hair is around 1. Collecting hair is not associated with any risks, although some patients may experience embarrassment or anxiety during sample collection. After a hair sample is collected, it is packaged according to instructions contained in the collection kit and sent to a laboratory for testing. There are no restrictions on activity after a hair follicle drug test. Once received by the laboratory, the hair sample may be washed prior to testing. Specialized methods of washing the hair sample remove some external contaminants, dirt, and grease from the surface of the hair. Drugs inside the hair are unaffected by washing. Results of hair follicle drug testing are generally available within a few business days after the laboratory receives the sample. Processing times vary, so patients may find it helpful to ask their doctor or the laboratory when to expect results. Depending on the reason for testing, patients may learn about their test results through a health care professional or the organization that required testing. The results of hair follicle drug tests may be reported as positive or negative. Positive test results indicate that a drug or its metabolite was detected in the sample of hair submitted for testing. Negative test results indicate that no drugs or drug metabolites were detected in the hair sample. When interpreting results, it may be helpful to understand the laboratory method used for testing. Laboratory methods used in hair follicle drug testing are similar or slightly modified versions of those used in more common forms of drug testing, like urine drug testing. Laboratory methods used in drug testing are generally categorized as initial or confirmatory methods:. Although cutoff values for positive test results are not standard in all laboratories, the Society of Hair Testing, an organization that promotes research in hair testing, has proposed the following cutoff values:. Although hair follicle testing is an accepted form of drug testing, the results of this test can be affected by a variety of factors, including environmental exposures, hair composition, use of hair products, and even hair color. Additionally, some drugs attach to the hair more easily, like nicotine and heroin, while other drugs are more difficult to detect in hair. Factors that affect test results include:. Follow-up testing after a hair follicle drug test depends on the test results and the purpose of drug testing. If only an initial test was performed, a confirmatory test may be ordered to confirm preliminary results. If a drug test result is positive, a health care provider may ask questions to evaluate the patient for a substance use disorder or addiction. Regardless of whether a patient meets the criteria to be diagnosed with a substance use disorder, treatment is available for drug use and misuse. Drug test results can be difficult to interpret and patients can ask their doctor or the testing facility about the meaning of test results. Questions about test results include:. Medical Encyclopedia. Updated February 7, Accessed July 6, ARUP Consult. Drug testing. Updated May Hair as a biological indicator of drug use, drug abuse or chronic exposure to environmental toxicants. Int J Toxicol. Society of Hair Testing guidelines for drug testing in hair. Forensic Sci Int. Drug and Alcohol Testing Industry Association. Workplace drug testing. Date unknown. Gorelick DA. Cocaine use disorder in adults: Epidemiology, pharmacology, clinical manifestations, medical consequences, and diagnosis. In: Saxon AJ, ed. Updated August 1, Cannabis use and disorder in adults: Pathogenesis, pharmacology, and routes of administration. Updated December 28, Hair drug testing results and self-reported drug use among primary care patients with moderate-risk illicit drug use. Drug Alcohol Depend. Hadland SE, Levy S. Hoffman RJ. Testing for drugs of abuse DOA. In: Traub SJ, ed. Updated January 15, Cannabinoid concentrations in hair from documented cannabis users. Khan GF. Substance Use Disorders. Merck Manuals Professional Edition. Updated November Testing for drugs of abuse in children and adolescents. In: StatPearls. Updated March 16, MedlinePlus: National Library of Medicine. Drug use and addiction. Prescription drug misuse. Updated May 20, National Institute on Drug Abuse. Published April 2, Understanding drug use and addiction. Published June Words matter: Preferred language for talking about addiction. Published May 18, Society of Hair Testing. About SoHT. Updated June 8, State and local laws and regulations. Updated April 16, Considerations for safety- and security-sensitive Industries. Updated June 24, Updated April 3, Hair sample testing: What can hair sampling results tell me about environmental exposures? Published April Published September 10, US Food and Drug Administration. Drugs of abuse home use tests. Updated September 27, This form enables patients to ask specific questions about lab tests. Your questions will be answered by a laboratory scientist as part of a voluntary service provided by one of our partners, American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science. Please allow business days for an email response from one of the volunteers on the Consumer Information Response Team. Board Approved. Test Quick Guide Hair follicle drug testing detects evidence of drug use or misuse in a sample of hair. Hair follicle drug testing may be used in several ways: Employment testing: Employers may require drug testing in many situations, including when screening job applicants, for periodic or random detection of drug use by employees, or after a workplace accident. Although urine drug tests are the most common method of detecting drug use in workplaces, hair follicle drug testing may be used by some employers. Forensic and legal testing: Hair samples may be collected during criminal investigations to evaluate for drug use or misuse in drug-facilitated crimes and child protection cases. For example, hair testing can assist in post-mortem evaluations of long-term drug use or misuse. Drug rehabilitation programs: Hair testing may be used in addiction medicine to detect chronic drug use and misuse, as well as understand periods of abstinence. What does the test measure? When should I get a hair follicle drug test? Finding a Hair Follicle Drug Test How to get tested A sample of hair can be collected at home, at a laboratory, or in a medical setting. Can I take the test at home? How much does the test cost? Before the test Although there are no special precautions necessary before a hair follicle drug test, patients should inform their doctor of medications or supplements that have recently been taken. During the test Collecting a sample of hair at a laboratory or at home involves cutting a lock of hair about the thickness of a pencil from the back of the head using scissors. After the test After a hair sample is collected, it is packaged according to instructions contained in the collection kit and sent to a laboratory for testing. Hair Follicle Drug Test Results Receiving test results Results of hair follicle drug testing are generally available within a few business days after the laboratory receives the sample. Interpreting test results The results of hair follicle drug tests may be reported as positive or negative. Laboratory methods used in drug testing are generally categorized as initial or confirmatory methods: Initial test methods: Immunoassays are a common method of drug testing but provide only preliminary results. In order to reduce the risk of inaccurate results on initial testing, positive test results should be followed by testing using a confirmatory test method. Confirmatory test methods: Confirmatory test methods, such as gas or liquid chromatography, provide more detailed results than initial test methods, including specific metabolites detected in hair. Although cutoff values for positive test results are not standard in all laboratories, the Society of Hair Testing, an organization that promotes research in hair testing, has proposed the following cutoff values: Hair Follicle Drug Test Cutoff Values Substance Detected Initial Test Cutoff Confirmatory Test Cutoff Amphetamines and drug metabolites 0. Factors that affect test results include: Environmental exposures: Inaccurate results can also occur due to environmental exposure to drugs. Washing hair samples prior to testing may not remove all of the drug residue from an environmental exposure. Hair color: Hair color can also lead to inaccurate or biased results of hair follicle drug testing. Drugs like cocaine, methamphetamine, and opioids may bind more easily to melanin in dark hair, leading to higher concentrations in hair testing. Hair treatments: Hair treatments, including shampooing, coloring, relaxing, and bleaching the hair, can affect the concentration of drugs and drug metabolites detected during testing. Chemically treated hair may not be appropriate for testing, and untreated hair may need to be taken from another part of the body. Other concerns about the accuracy of hair follicle drug tests include: Lack of standard cutoff values: Although some organizations have proposed guidelines for the use of hair follicle drug testing, standard cutoff values for the concentration of drugs in hair samples is still being established. Challenging to interpret: Hair follicle drug testing may be more challenging to interpret than other types of drug tests due to the many factors that may affect the interpretation of test results. Hard to detect low-level use: It can be difficult to detect low-level or one-time drug use or misuse using a hair sample for drug testing. Use or misuse of some drugs must be relatively heavy in order for a positive result on hair follicle drug testing. Do I need follow-up tests? Questions for your doctor about test results Drug test results can be difficult to interpret and patients can ask their doctor or the testing facility about the meaning of test results. Questions about test results include: Why am I being tested for drug use or misuse? What is the detection window of this test? What is the test result? Who will have access to my test result or medical record? Will I be retested in the future? See More. See Less. Table of Contents. Ask a Laboratory Scientist. This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. I Accept. Alcohol Ethanol Testing. Marijuana THC Testing. Nicotine and Cotinine Testing. Opioid Testing. Amphetamine: 0. Morphine: 0.

Hair forensics could yield false positives for cocaine use

Hair buy cocaine

Federal government websites often end in. The site is secure. Preview improvements coming to the PMC website in October Learn More or Try it out now. A highly discussed step in hair sample preparation for forensic analytics is the applied decontamination. The here presented investigations aim to gain insight and give recommendations on how to conduct this decontamination for the analysis of cocaine consumption in hair. Key insights were gained from the investigation of cocaine consumer hair, which was artificially contaminated in a humid atmosphere with 13 C 6 labelled cocaine and from cocaine powder contaminated hair. Several decontamination protocols were investigated, whereby the usage of a decontamination protocol consisting of multiple short repetitive washes allowed to visualize the wash out of 13 C 6 - cocaine. Multiple methanol washes proved to be an efficient and simple decontamination approach. Our findings showed that decontamination protocols can successfully wash out recent cocaine contaminations. Thus, the usage of decontamination protocols to differentiate between consumption and contamination was shown to be limited. As contamination can happen any time at any level, only the application of elaborated decision trees, based on cocaine metabolite ratios and thresholds, can provide the distinction between consumption and contamination. Thus, the authors highly recommend the usage of such tools on all hair samples analyzed for cocaine consumption. Forensic hair analytics is a valuable tool to track past drug exposition. Hair is especially useful for gaining retrospective insights over a prolonged time frame. For many xenobiotics, concentration changes along the hair shaft can be correlated with changes in consumption behavior over time. This is possible, as xenobiotics are incorporated via bloodstream into the non-keratinized part of the growing hair 1 , 2. However, often the bloodstream is not the only incorporation pathway for a xenobiotic, which among other issues e. Sweat, sebum, powder and smoke may lead to external contamination followed by partial incorporation over time. To tackle this issue in particular, hair sample preparation usually includes a cleaning step using established decontamination protocols. On the one hand, these protocols aim to remove any dirt tampering with analytics, and on the other hand, they should remove those contaminating incorporations. Different decontamination protocols were published and have been discussed in the hair analytics community, but no consensus on a universal protocol has been reached so far 3—6. The present publication focuses on the suitable and proper decontamination of hair after cocaine consumption. It is well-known that cocaine consumer hair can be strongly contaminated. Thus, interpretation of measured cocaine concentrations in hair is highly debated in the scientific community. A recent publication from Mantinieks et al. In another recent publication, it was shown, using mass spectrometric imaging, that recent contaminations accumulate mainly in superficial hair compartments, where they are more easily washed out than cocaine incorporated into inner hair compartments 8. In this publication, also the suitability of different hair contamination models was discussed 8. It was concluded that neither the soaking model nor the powder contamination model could perfectly mimic authentic hair samples of cocaine users. Behavior of model hair and authentic hair were different using different wash protocols. The authors concluded that the best model would be somewhere in between the two models. In the present work, two new approaches were developed to gain even more insight into the cocaine contamination issue. Besides the usual models soaked hair and powder contaminated hair , a new contamination hair model humid atmosphere soaking should also be evaluated for its suitability for those questions. In addition, the herein presented study includes contamination and decontamination experiments performed with 13 C 6 -labelled cocaine. The use of 13 C-labelled cocaine to spike cocaine consumer hair should help in differentiating decontamination efficiency regarding contamination and authentic cocaine incorporated via bloodstream. Soaking the hair sample in a very humid atmosphere should help in creating contaminated hair similar to authentic hair samples without continuous leaching as it can be expected during the standard soaking techniques. The present manuscript focuses on the practical aspects of decontaminating cocaine contaminated hair. Usefulness but also limitations of very different wash protocols should be evaluated. The wash solvent of choice for the here presented experiments was methanol. Methanol was chosen as it is very well-suited for decontaminating outer as well as inner compartments of hair contaminated with cocaine 8. This is important as for proper decontamination it is not only necessary to wash off superficial contaminations but also contaminations that have been incorporated into inner compartments. As methanol is a hair swelling solvent, it is able to reach all compartments. Finally, evaluation of kinetics of washing procedures should help in differentiating contamination from intake associated incorporation. Finally, a recommendation should be given, how to differentiate possible contamination regardless of the source from actual intake, taking into consideration all the experimental results and existing literature on that topic. Formic acid and ammonium formate were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich Buchs, Switzerland. Soaked hair was produced according to published work from Cairns et al. Finally, hair was dried at room temperature 4. Hair was washed without prior segmentation. For soaked hair, 10 single hairs were washed simultaneously. Due to longer hair length and limited quantities, only five consumer hairs were washed simultaneously. Each setup contained 10 washes a 2 min in 5 mL methanol with ultra-sonication, only the last, extended wash differed: 4, 8, 12 or 16 h in 5 mL methanol. Following this, hair was shuffled, and the absorbent paper was folded such that it covered the hair. After another 6 h of incubation, hair was once more shuffled and incubated for 1. Finally, hair was dried at room temperature. Contaminated consumer hair was divided into three batches, each being washed differently. The following three decontamination protocols have been applied to around 9 mg of hair each. For comparison of the final amounts of cocaine in the three decontaminated hair samples A, B or C , hair was cut into snippets, pulverized and extracted with methanol and a buffer solution formic acid-formate according to a published method 9 , As described in an earlier publication, hair of two volunteers m , Caucasian, black hair was contaminated with cocaine by manually rubbing cocaine powder confiscated by police on the street and analyzed for purity on the back of their heads for details see ref Scholz et al. Hair samples were collected 1 day and 1 week after contamination, respectively. During this time normal personal hygiene was followed. Prior to the contamination experiment, head hair had been tested negative for cocaine. Collected hair strands were washed without prior segmentation using protocol A of experimental Series 2. Analytes were measured with the following transitions and collision energies CE : cocaine: For semi-quantitative comparison, peak areas were divided by the area of trimipramine-d 3. Quantitative analysis of hair was done according to published methods 9 , Briefly, hair samples typically 3—6 cm of the proximal section were manually washed by shaking the hairs in water, acetone and hexane for 2 min each. After drying, they were cut into snippets, pulverized and extracted with methanol and a buffer solution formic acid-formate. Figure 1 depicts the concentration of cocaine in the wash solutions of cocaine-soaked hair washed according to the four different setups. The amount of cocaine in the wash solutions has been normalized to the second wash. This was done for semi-quantitative comparison of the four setups. The second wash was chosen for normalization, as the first wash of soaked hair usually contains a very variable amount of cocaine. In the first wash, mostly cocaine is being washed off that is loosely attached to the hair surface. For all setups, a rapid wash out of cocaine can be observed over the first 10 washes. Differences became obvious in the last extended washes of variable lengths. In this state, wash in and wash out of cocaine from the hair is in equilibrium with the washing solvent. Wash solution analysis of cocaine-soaked hair for the four different setups. In each setup, hair was washed 10 times for 2 min with methanol and only the last extended wash varied in time. In typical consumer hair, cocaine has been mostly incorporated via blood stream but has also been stocked up the hair surface by sweat and sebum. Wash out of cocaine is less rapid, which can be explained by a smaller part of contaminating cocaine in superficial compartments compared to the soaked hair. After several short washes, contaminations will be washed out and analyte extraction out of inner compartments will be predominantly responsible for the detected amounts. Similar to the extended washes of the soaked hair, a plateau can be observed in the extended washes of the consumer hair around 16 h. This experiment confirms previously published findings of this group 8 that soaked contaminating cocaine predominantly incorporated into superficial hair compartments gets more rapidly washed out than cocaine incorporated into inner compartments via blood stream after consumption. It also shows that in this specific setup, washes under 4 h have not yet reached equilibrium, meaning that the amount being washed out is still bigger than the amount being washed in. Wash solution analysis of cocaine consumer hair for the four different setups. During this special experiment, cocaine consumer hair has additionally been contaminated with 13 C 6 -cocaine, having the same physicochemical properties as unlabeled cocaine towards the washing steps but can be differentiated by mass spectrometry. Soaking analyte free hair in an analyte containing solution as seen in the first chapter is a common method to produce contaminated hair. This method, however, inevitably washes out some of the initially present cocaine. Thus, it would not be possible to compare the wash out of 13 C 6 -cocaine with the wash out of unlabeled cocaine in the very same washing step. However, only by the use of washing solvents like water or MeOH, hair can swell, and contaminations can thus be incorporated into deeper compartments. To tackle this issue, a new approach was developed, mimicking sweat contamination. By doing, so, leaching of cocaine is minimized and yet the hair can swell. For such contaminated hair, wash out of cocaine and 13 C 6 -cocaine was investigated using three different decontamination protocols A, B and C. Workflow for the 13 C 6 -cocaine contamination of consumer hair in a humid atmosphere. Wash protocol A was developed with the idea in mind of conducting several short washes with fresh solvent to speed up the washing out of contaminants. In addition, it is possible to visualize the differences in the wash out of contaminating cocaine and consumed cocaine over time. The first washes showed similar amounts of cocaine and 13 C 6 -cocaine. In the following washes, the quantities of washed out 13 C 6 -cocaine rapidly decreased. This can be explained by a mostly superficial incorporation of 13 C 6 -cocaine, from which it can be quickly removed. In contrast, amounts of unlabeled cocaine remained rather stable after an initial single drop. This initial drop can be explained by the easy wash out of superficial contaminating cocaine with the first wash. This initial drop could not be observed if hair were contaminated via typical soaking experiments. The continuous extraction of more or less equal amounts of unlabeled cocaine per step can be explained with the primary incorporation of cocaine via bloodstream into inner compartments. Benzoylecgonine and 13 C 6 -benzoylecgonine reflect the findings for 13 C 6 - cocaine. Beware of different scaling for 13 C 6 -benzoylecgonine; it was present only in minor amounts. Keep in mind that unlike unmarked benzoylecgonine, it is a product of 13 C 6 -cocaine degradation, happening during soaking and sample preparation and not a product of active metabolism. In conclusion for wash protocol A, the rapid wash out of 13 C 6 -cocaine indicates that final hair concentrations of unlabeled cocaine will be greater than those of 13 C 6 -cocaine. Thus, as far as one can tell from the wash-solutions, decontamination seems to have been successful. Wash protocol A: 13 C 6 - cocaine left hand side and 13 C 6 - benzoylecgonine right hand side wash solution content in twenty 2 min wash steps and one 18 h wash step light gray and dark gray, respectively of cocaine consumer hair contaminated with 13 C 6 -cocaine in a humid atmosphere. Take note, 13 C 6 - cocaine results are depicted on the same x -axis. Wash protocol B was crafted according to recommendations of the Society of Hair Testing SoHT , including washing steps with both organic solvent and aqueous solutions 9 , It has been in routine use since many years and has proven itself in proficiency tests. For all analytes, the initial aqueous wash of protocol B shown in Figure 5 removed the highest amounts. On the one hand, it was the first wash, and on the other hand, water can make the hair swell. This results in an increased wash out from inner compartments. For the decreasing amounts of 13 C 6 - cocaine and 13 C 6 - benzoylecgonine in the acetone and hexane washes, not only the sequence of the washes but also solubility in the respective washing solvents can be an explanation. Once more, 13 C 6 -cocaine was washed out at a higher rate than unlabeled cocaine, which is reflected in the higher amounts of 13 C 6 -cocaine in all wash solvents take note of logarithmic scale. This is not true for 13 C 6 -benzoylecgonine, because it is exclusively formed by chemical degradation of 13 C 6 - cocaine. In contrast to protocol A, assessment of successful decontamination of the hair is not possible. Wash protocol B: 13 C 6 - cocaine left hand side and 13 C 6 - benzoylecgonine right hand side wash solution content in the water, acetone and hexane wash solution of cocaine consumer hair contaminated with 13 C 6 -cocaine in a humid atmosphere. Take note of logarithmic scale. Wash protocol C in Figure 6 is a simplified version of wash protocol A, consisting of a first short wash of 10 min in methanol to remove superficial contaminations, followed by three times 3 h washes in methanol. This protocol was tested with the idea in mind of being more practical to implement in a routine laboratory setting. As this protocol consists of multiple washes using the same solvent, wash solution analysis once more visualized how contaminating 13 C 6 -cocaine was rather quickly washed out, whereas unlabeled cocaine remained. This quick wash out was especially visible in the first short wash, where the amount of washed out 13 C 6 -cocaine was higher than the amount of unlabeled cocaine. In the following washes, unlabeled cocaine quantities are much higher, which can be explained with beginning extraction from inner compartments. Wash protocol C: 13 C 6 - cocaine left hand side and 13 C 6 - benzoylecgonine right hand side wash solution content in the first 10 min, and the following three times washes for 3 h in methanol of cocaine consumer hair contaminated with 13 C 6 -cocaine in a humid atmosphere. Take note, 13 C 6 - cocaine results are depicted on the same x-axis. After application of the three decontamination protocols, final amounts of labeled and unlabeled cocaine remaining in the decontaminated hair were determined. For this, hair was cut into snippets, pulverized and extracted. Amounts of remaining 13 C 6 - cocaine and 13 C 6 - benzoylecgonine in these decontaminated hair samples are given in Figure 7 for the three protocols. To compare these amounts between the different protocols, results were normalized with respect to the initial hair sample weight. Interestingly, despite of the variability in the decontamination protocols, more or less the same amounts of cocaine and benzoylecgonine were extracted. Still, differences could be found. Protocol A with multiple methanol washes proved to be the most effective decontamination protocol. This can be explained by the repetitive washes with fresh solvent each time and the extended last wash step. Protocol B showed the lowest performance, as visible from Figure 5 , only the water wash removed significant amounts of cocaine. This protocol lacked multiple washes with fresh protic solvents for better performance. Protocol C, a simplified version of protocol A, showed very similar performance to A, and would therefore be eligible to replace protocol A, while reducing overall workload. Overall, only low amounts of 13 C 6 -benzoylecgonine were extracted, showing once more that degradation of 13 C 6 -cocaine was low take note of different scaling. The remaining amount of 13 C 6 -cocaine in the hair matrix after decontamination by all protocols is around 40 times lower than the amount of unlabeled cocaine. Thus, decontamination of 13 C 6 -cocaine can be deemed to have been successful for all three protocols in this specific setup. One can assume that any other wash protocol of similar composition would be equally successful in view of such recent contamination. Semi-quantitative comparison of the 13 C 6 - cocaine left hand side and 13 C 6 - benzoylecgonine right hand side content in the hair extracts after decontamination according to protocol A, B, or C. Results were normalized with respect to the initial hair sample weight. For this experiment, hair of two volunteers was contaminated with cocaine powder and collected 1 day and 1 week after contamination. Then, hair was decontaminated according to wash protocol A. For depiction of the resulting data, a new visualization was chosen. Figure 8 shows a summation of the cocaine content of the wash solutions for both volunteers at both time points. For both volunteers, hair collected 1 day after contamination shows a first-order elimination of cocaine. Wash out of cocaine from hair collected 1 week after contamination follows a zero-order elimination linear progression. Figure 9 shows a summation of the wash solutions content of 13 C 6 - cocaine applying wash protocol A and C of the previous chapter. Clearly visible for both wash protocols A and C , wash out of cocaine in light gray follows a zero-order elimination, whereas wash out of contaminating 13 C 6 -cocaine dark gray shows a first-order elimination kinetics. Taking into account the insights from both figures, one can deduce that recent! Wash out of older cocaine contaminations seems to be more problematic, because it seems to have been incorporated into inner compartments over time. Wash out of these aged contaminations followed the same elimination order as cocaine from actual consumer hair. In conclusion, determination of the washing kinetics may help in interpretation of cocaine results. Of course, this would be too much work in daily routine work in the hair laboratory. Still, these powder contaminated hair could be identified as contaminated by the usage of a decision tree recently published by our group 8 , 11 , additionally using cocaine metabolite ratios and thresholds. Summation of cocaine wash solution content after applying wash protocol A 18 h wash not depicted on hair contaminated with cocaine powder. Hair from two volunteers was collected 1 day and 1 week after the contamination. Summation of 13 C 6 - cocaine wash solution content after applying wash protocol A 18 h wash not depicted or wash protocol C. Cocaine consumer hair contaminated with 13 C 6 -cocaine in a humid atmosphere was used. Hair analysis for the determination of cocaine abuse is a technique with many possible pitfalls. A well-thought out sample preparation needs to be in place together with an elaborated procedure for the interpretation of the data. The here presented findings highlight the importance of using a multi wash step decontamination protocol. In doing so, a rapid wash out of recent cocaine contamination can be observed. Ideally, this would lead to a hair where cocaine incorporated from consumption will clearly be predominant in the final extract. In contrast, cocaine from actual consumption or older contaminations, which have been incorporated into inner compartments, is extracted from the hair at a constant rate. Thus, older cocaine contaminations do not differentiate from actual consumed cocaine in regard to the wash out rates. This means a decontamination protocol will in this case not be able to predominantly remove contaminating cocaine. As it is well-known, cocaine is especially prone to extreme contamination levels e. In the worst case, contaminant concentrations incorporated over time into inner compartments are predominant over concentrations from consumption. In such a worst-case scenario, interpretation of the concentrations will be misguided Thus, we strongly recommend to use decision trees, based on cocaine metabolite ratios and thresholds, to be able to differentiate consumption from contamination. The authors would like to thank the staff of the Center for Forensic Hair Analytics in Zurich for their support. As a library, NLM provides access to scientific literature. J Anal Toxicol. Published online Oct 7. Email: hc. Published by Oxford University Press. For commercial re-use, please contact journals. Abstract A highly discussed step in hair sample preparation for forensic analytics is the applied decontamination. Introduction Forensic hair analytics is a valuable tool to track past drug exposition. Experimental Series 1: cocaine soaked hair vs consumer hair Soaked hair was produced according to published work from Cairns et al. Decontamination Hair was washed without prior segmentation. A total of 20 times 2 min in 5 mL methanol with ultra-sonication, followed by an 18 h extended wash in 5 mL methanol. A period of 10 min in 5 mL methanol, three times for 3 h in 5 mL methanol. Final amounts of cocaine in decontaminated hair For comparison of the final amounts of cocaine in the three decontaminated hair samples A, B or C , hair was cut into snippets, pulverized and extracted with methanol and a buffer solution formic acid-formate according to a published method 9 , Experimental Series 3: cocaine powder contaminated hair As described in an earlier publication, hair of two volunteers m , Caucasian, black hair was contaminated with cocaine by manually rubbing cocaine powder confiscated by police on the street and analyzed for purity on the back of their heads for details see ref Scholz et al. Decontamination Collected hair strands were washed without prior segmentation using protocol A of experimental Series 2. LC--MS-MS routine quantitative hair analysis Quantitative analysis of hair was done according to published methods 9 , Results and Discussion Experimental Series 1: cocaine soaked hair and consumer hair after extended wash Figure 1 depicts the concentration of cocaine in the wash solutions of cocaine-soaked hair washed according to the four different setups. Open in a separate window. Figure 1. Figure 2. Experimental Series 2: 13 C 6 -cocaine contamination of consumer hair During this special experiment, cocaine consumer hair has additionally been contaminated with 13 C 6 -cocaine, having the same physicochemical properties as unlabeled cocaine towards the washing steps but can be differentiated by mass spectrometry. Figure 3. Figure 4. Figure 5. Figure 6. Figure 7. Experimental Series 3: cocaine powder contaminated hair For this experiment, hair of two volunteers was contaminated with cocaine powder and collected 1 day and 1 week after contamination. Figure 8. Figure 9. Conclusion Hair analysis for the determination of cocaine abuse is a technique with many possible pitfalls. Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank the staff of the Center for Forensic Hair Analytics in Zurich for their support. Declarations of interest The authors have no competing interests to declare. References 1. Pragst F. Clinica Chimica Acta , , 17— Cuypers E. Clinical Toxicology , 56 , 90— Mantinieks D. Drug Testing and Analysis , 11 , — Cairns T. Forensic Science International , , 97— Erne R. Analytica Chemistry , 91 , — Tsanaclis L. Forensic Science International , , — Huestis M. Journal of Chromatography B , , — Analyst , , — Rust K. Forensic Science International , , 64— Kroll S. Psychopharmacology , , — Scholz C. Journal of Analytical Toxicoly , 43 , — Copy Download.

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