UCT Presentation at STFA Congres (Chambery, France, September 18-21)

UCT is well known and highly regarded around the world for its experience in producing the finest Solid Phase Extraction (SPE) sorbents for the Forensic/Clinical Toxicology and Environmental communities, as well as our line of Petrarch Chemicals (including dertivatizing reagents). In the field of Forensic Toxicology, there is no finer performing SPE column than UCT's flag ship sorbent Clean Screen DAU for the extraction of a diverse range of forensically significant drugs from a wide variety of biological matrices.

At this years Annual Congres of the Societe Francais Toxicologique et Analytique (SFTA) held in Chambery, France, UCT scientist Dr.Jeff Hackett will be presenting some recent research involving the extraction and analysis of Amphetamines (Amphetamine, Methamphetamine, MDA, MDMA) from Hair samples. The research (carried out in collaboration with a major State Crime Laboratory) demonstrates the ability to produce highly reproducible samples, with high recovery values and low matrix effects (at very low concentrations) using small amounts of sample (approx. 10 mg). The use of the Clean Screen DAU in this analysis shows why this is the first choice SPE sorbent for analysts in facilities around the world for drug testing.

UCT Poster Presentation at SOFT 2012

Hair analysis for the presence of illicit drugs is becoming one of the most challenging types of forensic toxicological analysis. At this years SOFT meeting, Dr. Jeff Hackett will be presenting the results of a collaborative project involving Amphetamines and Synthetic Cathinones in hair samples (Poster P03). In this work, UCT's flagship sorbent Clean Screen DAU (CSDAU206) was employed to produce a highly efficient validated methodology for the simultaneous extraction of 4 Amphetamines (Amphetamine, methamphetamine, MDA, and  MDMA) and 9 Synthetic Cathinones (Butylone, ethylone, flephedrone, mephedrone, methylone, methedrone, methcathinone (4-MEC), methylenedioxypyravalerone (MDPV) and pyravalerone) from 10 mg samples of hair. This new methodology which involves a short base digestion time followed by SPE and LC-MS/MS permits limits of quantitation (LOQ) of 0.05 ng/ mg, and detection(LOD) of 0.1 ng/ mg of sample to be achieved with excellent recoveries (greater than 95%) and minimal matrix effects (less than 6%). This newer methodology demonstrates the strength of the DAU sorbent in the analysis of not only familiar drugs but new and novel ones as well.

AAFS 2012: Hair Analysis of Amphetamine using SPE & LC-MS/MS (Feb 22 730-900pm)

Apart from the standard matrices (blood, urine, and tissues) submitted to analytical toxicologist for drug testing, samples of hair are now becoming more and more popular are a means of determining drug exposure in individuals. Hair, because of its consistent growth rate can be analyzed for drug taking patterns in chronic users. The time window of detection can be viewed in terms of weeks and months, as opposed to hours and days for blood and urine. In this study (in collaboration with a major crime laboratory), hair samples from an individual subject were tested for the presence of several amphetamine type drugs (amphetamine, methamphetamine, methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA), and methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)). This process involved digesting the samples with a strong base in the presence of deuterated internal standards, neutralizing, and extracting the digest using Clean Screen DAU (CSDAU206) SPE columns. After extraction, the test samples were analyzed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The recoveries of the individual amphetamine type drugs were found to be greater than 95%, with minimal matrix effects (less than 6%). The limits of detection and quantification for this procedure were 0.05, and 0.1 ng per mg of sample which demonstrates not only the sensitivity of the method but also the cleanliness of the extracts being analyzed. This method employed only 10 mg of sample for analysis which also demonstrates the efficiency of the SPE methodology.