title: The use of supercritical fluid extraction for the determination of amphetamines in hair.
abstract: A laboratory study interested in the analysis of human hair for drugs-of-abuse was conducted to determine if drugs could be detected and quantified from hair. Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) techniques followed by GC-MS analysis were applied to extract amphetamines from hair. The group of amphetamines included methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA), methylenedioxymetamphetamine (MDMA), methylenedioxyethylamphetamine (MDEA) and internal standard mephentermine (MP). To validate information on amphetamine use in hair, powdered hair samples free from drugs were collected and soaked in a known amphetamine standard solution. Authentic fortified case hair samples taken from known drug users known to have consumed amphetamines were also analyzed for amphetamine. Results from this study show that amphetamine use can be detected in spiked and authentic fortified human hair using SFE techniques for qualitative and quantitative reproducible results.
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Medicine and Science, University of Glasgow, Scotland, UK.
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Allen
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Oliver
mesh_terms: D015104:3,4-Methylenedioxyamphetamine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000032:analysis; D000662:Amphetamines / Q000032:analysis* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D015198:Designer Drugs / Q000032:analysis; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods; D006197:Hair / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs / Q000032:analysis*; D018817:N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine / Q000032:analysis; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection / Q000379:methods*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis
chemical_list: D000662:Amphetamines; D015198:Designer Drugs; D013287:Illicit Drugs; D015104:3,4-Methylenedioxyamphetamine; D018817:N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine; C051800:3,4-methylenedioxyethamphetamine