Micro-HPLC–UV analysis of cocaine and its adulterants in illicit cocaine samples seized by Austrian police from 2012 to 2017

Abstract

The worldwide consumption of illicit drugs presents a big problem in terms of health care and prosecution. In the recent years, hundreds of novel psychoactive substances came up and were traded through the Internet, but there is still a big demand for classic illicit drugs such as cocaine, heroin, cannabis, and ecstasy. Among these, cocaine particularly is frequently altered not only with excipients but also with other physiologically active substances. The purpose of this work was to estimate the trend of cocaine purity and abundance of its adulterants in samples seized by Austrian police from 2012 to 2017. A micro-HPLC method for quantification of cocaine and its most common adulterants was developed and validated using gradient elution and UV detection at four wavelengths. A total of 110 cocaine samples were analyzed. In all the samples, cocaine was present as hydrochloric salt. Caffeine, procaine, levamisole, phenacetin, lidocaine, and benzocaine were the most abundant adulterants.

Cocaine adulteration with the anthelminthic tetramisole (levamisole/dexamisole): Long‐term monitoring of its intake by chiral LC–MS/MS analysis of cocaine‐positive hair samples

“…10 Levamisole has been detected since 2004 in seized cocaine samples with increasing trend. 11 A similar trend was observed from local evaluations at the drug testing center for drug users in Zurich, Switzerland. 11 A similar trend was observed from local evaluations at the drug testing center for drug users in Zurich, Switzerland.…”

“…1,[6][7][8][9] However, a recent study from Austria, reports on a decreasing trend in 2017 compared to 2015 and 2016. 11 A similar trend was observed from local evaluations at the drug testing center for drug users in Zurich, Switzerland. In 2014 and 2015, levamisole was present in about 75% of the tested samples, whereas in 2016 and 2017, the frequency dropped to 48% and about 35%, respectively.…”

“…The prevalence of PTHIT in hair samples significantly decreased in mainly 2017 compared to 2015 which is in line with the observed trend in tested cocaine samples in Switzerland and Austria. [11][12][13][14] In most of the hair samples, PTHIT concentrations were lower than cocaine concentrations (Figure 2). In 13 samples PTHIT concentrations exceeded cocaine concentrations which can be explained by prevalent ingestion of strongly tetramisole-adulterated cocaine; nevertheless, contamination of hair with tetramisole cannot be excluded ( Figure 2).…”

Os Principais Fármacos Utilizados Como Adulterantes Em Amostras De Cocaína

“…Os adulterantes considerados farmacologicamente ativos podem ser usados para potencializar o efeito da cocaína e derivados, ou mesmo para minimizar os efeitos colaterais adversos que ocorrem devido ao abuso da droga (KNUTH et al, 2018 KNUTH et al, 2018VINKOVIC et al, 2018 Quadro 01 -Principais adulterantes com atividade farmacológica que passíveis de serem detectados em amostras de cocaína…”

Functionalization of metal Nanoparticles for SERS-based Detections of illicit drugs in biological samples

“…2 In recent decades, there were numerous efforts to establish a safe method for the detection of illicit drugs such as Gas Chromatography (GC) 3 , mass spectroscopy 4 , nuclear magnetic resonance 5 , liquid-liquid extraction 6 , and High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). 7 In recent years, SERS technology has proven to be a powerful replacement for conventional analytical devices and a powerful method for differentiation and detection of a wide variety of analytes. SERS is a versatile vibrational spectroscopy technique that provides a distinctive spectral fingerprint of an analyte via inelastic light scattering from the sample.…”