The role of alternative specimens in toxicological analysis
- 27 May 2008
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Wiley in Biomedical Chromatography
- Vol. 22 (8), 795-821
- https://doi.org/10.1002/bmc.1009
Abstract
The use of alternative specimens in the field of toxicology was first described in 1979, when hair analysis was used to document chronic drug exposure. Since then, the use of these ‘alternative’ samples has gained tremendous importance in forensic toxicology, as well as in clinic toxicology, doping control and workplace drug testing. It is not surprising, therefore, that a large number of papers dealing with the determination of several classes of drugs in saliva, sweat, meconium and hair have been published ever since, owing to the fact that chromatographic equipment is becoming more and more sensitive, mass spectrometry (and tandem mass spectrometry) being the most widely used analytical tool, combined with gas or liquid chromatography. ‘Alternative’ specimens present a number of advantages over the ‘traditional’ samples normally used in toxicology (e.g. blood, urine and tissues), namely the fact that their collection is not invasive, their adulteration is difficult, and they may allow increased windows of detection for certain drugs. The main disadvantage of this kind of samples is that drugs are present in very low concentrations, and therefore high‐sensitivity techniques are required to accomplish the analysis. This paper reviews a series of publications on the use of alternative specimens, with special focus on the main analytical and chromatographic problems that these samples present, as well on their advantages and disadvantages over traditional samples in documenting drug exposure. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Keywords
This publication has 277 references indexed in Scilit:
- Utility of sweat patch testing for drug use monitoring in outpatient treatment for opiate dependenceJournal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 2007
- Cannabinoid concentrations in hair from documented cannabis usersForensic Science International, 2007
- Development and validation of a disk solid phase extraction and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry method for MDMA, MDA, HMMA, HMA, MDEA, methamphetamine and amphetamine in sweatJournal of Chromatography B, 2007
- Bioanalytical procedures for monitoring in utero drug exposureAnalytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, 2007
- Oral fluid as an alternative matrix to monitor opiate and cocaine use in substance-abuse treatment patientsDrug and Alcohol Dependence, 2007
- Methamphetamine Disposition in Oral Fluid, Plasma, and UrineAnnals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 2007
- Meconium analysis to detect fetal exposure to neurotoxicantsArchives of Disease in Childhood, 2006
- Fatty Acid Ethyl Esters: Quantitative Biomarkers for Maternal Alcohol ConsumptionThe Journal of Pediatrics, 2005
- Postmortem drug analysis of meconium in early-gestation human fetuses exposed to cocaine: Clinical implicationsThe Journal of Pediatrics, 1994
- Biology of sweat glands and their disorders. I. Normal sweat gland functionJournal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 1989