UCT Presentations at AAFS 2013

UCT is proud of its connection to the forensic community and its support of the major conferences around the world including the AAFS Annual meeting in Washington DC, February 18th-23rd, 2013. At this years conference, UCT will be presenting two outstanding posters in the area of Forensic Toxicological Analysis.

In the first poster, Dr. Jeff Hackett will be presenting work carried out using UCT's flagship SPE sorbent (Clean Screen DAU206) concerning the effects of bleaching agents on hair samples containing Amphetamines and Bathsalt type drugs. In order to ascertain the effect of degradation of these drugs with bleaching agents, not only is a highly efficient extraction required, but also one that returns clean and reproducible results. The Clean Screen DAU206 is known around the world as the finest SPE sorbent with these exact properties.

In the second poster, UCT collaborated with a major crime laboratory to present results of analysis for the metabolites of one of the newer Spice type drugs (AM2201). In this study, Clean Screen THC 206 was employed to provide the extraction of the primary metabolite of AM2201. Clean Screen THC is already recognized as the best SPE sorbent for the extraction of cannabinoids (THC, THC-OH, and Carboxy-THC), and now is being recognized for its ability to extract Spice drugs from biological samples.

Clean Screen® THC in International Cannabis Psychomotor Study

For the practitioners of forensic toxicology, the analysis of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and its metabolites is one of most requested tests around the world in drugs and driving related cases. By evaluating the concentrations of THC, its hydroxy and carboxy metabolites in samples of whole blood, the toxicologist is in the best position to offer medical examiners/coroners and enforcement agencies the most appropriate interpretation regarding the impairment of the operators of motor vehicles.

In an article published by Wendy M. Bosker and, Erin L. Karschner et al in PLOS ONE ( January 2013, 8(1): e53127), a team from the prestigious National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA, Baltimore MD)/ Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands studied the psychomotor functions of chronic daily cannabis users in abstinence. In this study, samples of blood, as well as oral fluid, were taken over a period of 23 days. The blood samples were treated so as to produce the plasma and were stored until analyzed. During the period of the study several psychomotor tests were performed upon the participants. By correlating the plasma cannabinoid concentrations with the psychomotor results, this team was able to understand the nature of cannabinoid impairment. UCT's SPE columns were employed to provide analytical results which were both reproducible and clean.