title: A survey of adulterants used to cut cocaine in samples seized in the Espírito Santo State by GC-MS allied to chemometric tools.
abstract: Cocaine is a stimulant drug of the central nervous system (CNS) extracted from the leaves of Erytroxylum coca. It is defined as a tropane alkaloid containing 1R-(exo,exo)-3-(benzoyloxy)-8-methyl-8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octane-2-carboxylic acid methyl esther. However, despite its defined composition, a wide variety of chemical additives are present in cocaine found in the illicit market, such as benzocaine, lidocaine, caffeine, procaine and phenacetin. In this work, 512 cocaine samples seized by the Civil Police of Espirito Santo state (PC-ES, Brazil) were analyzed by gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) allied to principal component analysis (PCA) in order to classify the samples as a function of seizure year (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012) and location (metropolitan, north, south and central). The cocaine content (wt.%) and its adulterants were also estimated. Analyzing the samples seized between 2008 and 2011, three sample sets are clearly grouped according to the degree of adulteration with caffeine and lidocaine: 100-50 wt.% of cocaine; 50-20 wt.% of cocaine; and 20-80 wt.% of lidocaine and 60-80 wt.% of caffeine, simultaneously. The last group is formed by samples seized between 2008 and 2009, which proves the higher degree of adulteration during this period. In 2012, higher cocaine content was observed for the 191 analyzed samples than in samples from previous years. The PCA data also suggests that the metropolitan region samples had a higher degree of adulteration than the state countryside samples.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Petroleômica e Química Forense, Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Avenida Fernando Ferrai, 514, Goiabeiras, Vitória, ES CEP: 29075-910, Brazil.
authors.forename: Lindamara M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: de Souza
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Petroleômica e Química Forense, Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Avenida Fernando Ferrai, 514, Goiabeiras, Vitória, ES CEP: 29075-910, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rayza R T
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Rodrigues
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Petroleômica e Química Forense, Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Avenida Fernando Ferrai, 514, Goiabeiras, Vitória, ES CEP: 29075-910, Brazil.
authors.forename: Heloá
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Petroleômica e Química Forense, Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Avenida Fernando Ferrai, 514, Goiabeiras, Vitória, ES CEP: 29075-910, Brazil.
authors.forename: Helber B
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Química Legal, Superintendência de Polícia Técnico-Científica da Polícia Civil do Estado do Espírito Santo, Rua José Farias s/n, Santa Lúcia, Vitória, ES, CEP: 29045-300, Brazil.
authors.forename: Bianca B
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Merlo
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Petroleômica e Química Forense, Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Avenida Fernando Ferrai, 514, Goiabeiras, Vitória, ES CEP: 29075-910, Brazil; Laboratório de Quimiometria em Química Analítica, Instituto de Química, Universidade de Campinas, Campinas, SP CEP: 13083-970, Brazil.
authors.forename: Paulo R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Filgueiras
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Quimiometria em Química Analítica, Instituto de Química, Universidade de Campinas, Campinas, SP CEP: 13083-970, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ronei J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Poppi
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Petroleômica e Química Forense, Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Avenida Fernando Ferrai, 514, Goiabeiras, Vitória, ES CEP: 29075-910, Brazil; Instituto de Química, Universidade Federal de Goiás, 74001-970 Goiânia, GO, Brazil.
authors.forename: Boniek G
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Vaz
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Petroleômica e Química Forense, Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Avenida Fernando Ferrai, 514, Goiabeiras, Vitória, ES CEP: 29075-910, Brazil; Instituto Federal do Espírito Santo, Av. Ministro Salgado Filho, Soteco, Vila Velha, ES CEP: 29106-010, Brazil. Electronic address: wandersonromao@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Wanderson
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Romão
mesh_terms: D002110:Caffeine / Q000032:analysis; D003042:Cocaine / Q000737:chemistry*; D004340:Drug Contamination; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006801:Humans; D008012:Lidocaine / Q000032:analysis; D009294:Narcotics / Q000737:chemistry*; D025341:Principal Component Analysis
chemical_list: D009294:Narcotics; D002110:Caffeine; D008012:Lidocaine; D003042:Cocaine
keywords: Chemical profile; Chemometrics; Cocaine; GC–MS; PCA