Morphological changes in human head hair subjected to various drug testing decontamination strategies

Stout, Peter; Ropero-Miller, JD; Baylor, Michael; Mitchell, John M.

doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2007.01.011

Cited by 24 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…The washing of hair during analysis needs to be undertaken with caution as some methods have the potential to damage the hair shaft and affect the reporting of absorbed methamphetamine and amphetamine (194).…”

Section: Analysis Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Amphetamines, and other contaminants that are externally deposited or not tightly bound can be removed through a series of ethanol or isopropyl alcohol washes followed by phosphate buffer washes (192). By analysing the concentrations recovered from the washes to the concentrations recovered from the hair matrix, a determination can be made that distinguishes passive or environmental exposures/contamination from systemic absorption (191,194). Deposition of amphetamines from air, such as from smoking or from the suspension of amphetamine residues in a home during vacuuming or from the operation of a contaminated air conditioning unit, could be a potential route of entry into hair (195).…”

Section: Incorporation Of Amphetamines In Hairmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Exposures associated with clandestine methamphetamine drug laboratories in Australia

Wright

Edwards

Walker

2016

Reviews on Environmental Health

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AbstractThe clandestine manufacture of methamphetamine in residential homes may represent significant hazards and exposures not only to those involved in the manufacture of the drugs but also to others living in the home (including children), neighbours and first responders to the premises. These hazards are associated with the nature and improper storage and use of precursor chemicals, intermediate chemicals and wastes, gases and methamphetamine residues generated during manufacture and the drugs themselves. Many of these compounds are persistent and result in exposures inside a home not only during manufacture but after the laboratory has been seized or removed. Hence new occupants of buildings formerly used to manufacture methamphetamine may be unknowingly exposed to these hazards. Children are most susceptible to these hazards and evidence is available in the literature to indicate that these exposures may result in immediate and long-term adverse health effects. The assessment of exposure within the home can be undertaken by measuring contaminant levels or collecting appropriate biological data from individuals exposed. To gain a better understanding of the available data and key issues associated with these approaches to the characterisation of exposure, a review of the published literature has been undertaken.

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Section: Analysis Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Incorporation Of Amphetamines In Hairmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exposures associated with clandestine methamphetamine drug laboratories in Australia

Wright

Edwards

Walker

2016

Reviews on Environmental Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…While external contamination should be washed as perfectly as possible, drugs in hair should not be extracted at the same time during the decontamination steps [27]. However, there is no standard method and the effects of different decontamination protocols on the physical structure of hair were varied [11], which can affect the level of drugs in hair. Thus, further studies with both the fortified and authentic hair RM are required to evaluate and standardize a decontamination method.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since both the agitation-and ultrasonication-based methods were included in our SOP, the experimental procedure was chosen on the participants' convenience. Any decontamination step was not allowed as part of a routine experimental procedure according to the recommendation of Stout et al [11] because the samples had been already washed during the preparation process and additional decontamination could produce inappropriate variability among the results of participants and/or between the certified values of the RM and the reported ones from participants. One bottle of drug-free hair was also given to check the possibility of contamination during the experimental process.…”

Section: Internal Proficiency Testmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Preparation and application of a fortified hair reference material for the determination of methamphetamine and amphetamine

Lee¹,

Park²,

Han³

et al. 2008

Forensic Science International

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Differentiation between consumption and external contamination when testing for cocaine and cannabis in hair samples

Tsanaclis

Nutt

Bagley

et al. 2014

Drug Testing and Analysis

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It is possible for hair to be externally contaminated by drugs like cannabis or cocaine, which are smoked or snorted. Three steps are commonly employed to minimize the chance of external contamination causing misinterpretation of the results of a hair test. The first consists of decontamination of hair samples by washing the hair before analysis, the second is the use of cut-off levels, and the third is the detection of both the parent drugs and appropriate levels of their metabolite(s) in the hair sample. We propose an additional step for the assessment of drug use using hair samples combined with decontamination data. Hair samples from 186 drug users were analyzed along with their wash residues by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The results of the hair analysis of the 140 samples for cocaine showed that 85.5% (N=89) of the samples passed 'cocaine use' criteria for metabolites ratios and 12.5% (N=13) for wash residue criteria (<10% of cocaine in the wash residue) leading to conclusive interpretation. Only two cases (1.9%) had an uncertain conclusion of drug consumption because cocaine levels in the wash residue were >10% of the levels in the hair. The results of the cannabis set of samples (N=46) were not as clear-cut, as a comparatively large number of samples (15.2%) had relatively high levels of THC in the wash residues. To use this approach, it is important that laboratories testing drugs in hair samples can demonstrate that the method utilized does not generate significant levels of the cocaine metabolites.

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Morphological changes in human head hair subjected to various drug testing decontamination strategies

Cited by 24 publications

References 14 publications

Exposures associated with clandestine methamphetamine drug laboratories in Australia

Exposures associated with clandestine methamphetamine drug laboratories in Australia

Preparation and application of a fortified hair reference material for the determination of methamphetamine and amphetamine

Differentiation between consumption and external contamination when testing for cocaine and cannabis in hair samples

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