Inspired by Locard's exchange principle, which states "every contact leaves a trace", a trace residue sampling strategy has been developed for the analysis of discarded drug packaging samples (DPS), as part of an early warning system for illicit drug use at large public events including music/dance festivals. Using direct analysis in real time/mass spectrometry and tandem mass spectrometry, rapid and high-throughput identification and characterization of a wide range of illicit drugs and adulterant substances was achieved, including in complex polydrug mixtures and at low relative ion abundances. A total of 1362 DPS were analyzed either off-site using laboratory-based instrumentation or on-site and in close to real time using a transportable mass spectrometer housed within a mobile analytical laboratory, with each analysis requiring less than 1 min per sample. Of the DPS analyzed, 92.2% yielded positive results for at least one of 15 different drugs and/or adulterants, including cocaine, MDMA, and ketamine, as well as numerous novel psychoactive substances (NPS). Also, 52.6% of positive DPS were found to contain polydrug mixtures, and a total of 42 different drug and polydrug combinations were observed throughout the study. For analyses performed on-site, reports to key stakeholders including event organizers, first aid and medical personnel, and peer-based harm reduction workers could be provided in as little as 5 min after sample collection. Following risk assessment of the potential harms associated with their use, drug advisories or alerts were then disseminated to event staff and patrons and subsequently to the general public when substances with particularly toxic properties were identified.

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Samples of sludge from various processes in an electroplating works were analysed for elemental content by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry prior to disposal by landfill. The samples were first examined in compressed powder pellet form using a semiquantitative package in order to establish the analytes present before being fused into glass beads and analysed on a wide range oxide calibration prepared specifically for these sludges. The quantitative analytical programme used a previously developed novel calibration method which was tested using a suite of certified reference materials. Sample preparation reproducibility and instrumental precision trials were also performed. The carbon and sulfur contents of the sludges were determined using an induction furnace combustion technique and an attempt was made to characterize the sludges by X-ray diffraction. The project shows that the XRF approach using a combination of semiquantitative and quantitative analysis provides a rapid, comprehensive and cost effective means of ensuring that the waste products are thoroughly characterized prior to disposal.

Empirical data regarding dynamic alterations in illicit drug supply markets in response to the COVID‐19 pandemic, including the potential for introduction of novel drug substances and/or increased poly‐drug combination use at the “street” level, that is, directly proximal to the point of consumption, are currently lacking. Here, a high‐throughput strategy employing ambient ionization‐mass spectrometry is described for the trace residue identification, characterization, and longitudinal monitoring of illicit drug substances found within >6,600 discarded drug paraphernalia (DDP) samples collected during a pilot study of an early warning system for illicit drug use in Melbourne, Australia from August 2020 to February 2021, while significant COVID‐19 lockdown conditions were imposed. The utility of this approach is demonstrated for the de novo identification and structural characterization of β‐U10, a previously unreported naphthamide analog within the “U‐series” of synthetic opioid drugs, including differentiation from its α‐U10 isomer without need for sample preparation or chromatographic separation prior to analysis. Notably, β‐U10 was observed with 23 other drug substances, most commonly in temporally distinct clusters with heroin, etizolam, and diphenhydramine, and in a total of 182 different poly‐drug combinations. Longitudinal monitoring of the number and weekly “average signal intensity” (ASI) values of identified substances, developed here as a semi‐quantitative proxy indicator of changes in availability, relative purity and compositions of street level drug samples, revealed that increases in the number of identifications and ASI for β‐U10 and etizolam coincided with a 50% decrease in the number of positive detections and an order of magnitude decrease in the ASI for heroin.

+ass spectrometryprovides a powerful and versatile method for the characterization of the unburnt and also theqyolyse&and partially oxidized gaseous hydrocarbon species present in exhaust gases. Flame ionization detection, the usual analysis meth6d for measuring exhaust hydrocarhons, can give only a total hydrocarbonfigure when used on-line. A mass spectrometer can perform the on-line characterization of the individual gaseous hydrocarbon species in the exhaust and can detect any trends in their concentrations. This permits the rapid assessment of experimental approaches for reducing these pollutants. In the present work exhaust gases have been sampled from the exhaust of a Ricardo E6 research engine pass to the analysis equipment via heated sample lines. The gases can be analysed as discrete samples spectrometry (GC-MS) in order to identify the components, or can be continuously monitored by ma order to measure any trends in the component concentrations. These mass spectrometric analysis techniques have been compayd with other ga$ analysis and general data acquisition methods, and have permitted the collection of much information about enginqexhaust emissionbThis information has been related to engine operating parameters with special reference to the,fuel-air ratio.The results from this work show that not only does the combustion result in an increase in the relative amounts of NO and CO, , but also suggest that the gubstituted aromatic hydrocarbon$way be products of combustion. Continuous monitoring of specijied exhaust components has been performed mass spectrometrically and related to the air-fuel ratio used for the engine. With lean fuels, the hydrocarbons are not totally combusled, but those that are burnt are combusted with reasonable eficiency. On the other hand, rich mixtures are associated with not only ineficient combustion, but also incomplete oxidation (that is CO-CO, ratio is increased), and an increase in the substituted aromatic hydrocarbons.@toichiometric)mixtures have been found to be associated with most eflcient combustion (highest C0,-CO ratio) and minimal hydrocbrbon emissions.