title: Rendering the "poppy-seed defense" defenseless: identification of 6-monoacetylmorphine in urine by gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy.
abstract: We report a sensitive, rapid, quantitative gas chromatographic/mass spectroscopic method for measuring the 6-monoacetylmorphine (6-MAM) metabolite of heroin in 0.5 mL of human urine. After a simple liquid-liquid extraction and derivatization, the trimethylsilyl derivative of 6-MAM is identified from its retention time (total ion current) and by selected ion monitoring. The limit of detection was 10 micrograms/L, corresponding to 0.2 ng of trimethylsilyl-6-MAM injected into the gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer. The presence of 6-MAM in urine is indicative of heroin. 6-MAM is not present in poppy seeds or in urine after the ingestion of products containing poppy seed.
authors.affiliation: New York State DSAS Testing and Research Laboratory, Brooklyn 11217.
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Mulé
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Casella
mesh_terms: D005189:False Positive Reactions; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods; D003932:Heroin / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D009020:Morphine / Q000378:metabolism; D009022:Morphine Derivatives / Q000652:urine*; D010207:Papaver; D010946:Plants, Medicinal; D012639:Seeds / Q000032:analysis*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000652:urine*; D014297:Trimethylsilyl Compounds
chemical_list: D009022:Morphine Derivatives; D014297:Trimethylsilyl Compounds; D003932:Heroin; D009020:Morphine; C026979:6-O-monoacetylmorphine