SOLUTIONS THAT MEET YOUR DEMANDS FOR FORENSIC TOXICOLOGY

Importance of Topic

Forensic toxicology is essential for public safety, legal enforcement, and clinical investigations, determining the presence and concentrations of drugs and their metabolites in biological specimens. Highly sensitive, rapid, and reliable analytical methods are needed to support screening, confirmation, and quantitation of a broad range of target compounds such as alcohols, psychoactive drugs, steroids, and volatile or trace-level analytes in complex matrices.

Study Overview

This summary covers a series of analytical protocols for forensic toxicology applications. Techniques include headspace GC for blood alcohols; GC/MS, GC/MS/MS, and GC-QQQ for drugs of abuse and steroids; CE-MSn for broad-spectrum screening in blood and hair; LC-MS methods for opiates and benzodiazepines in blood; rapid LC-MS/MS for oxycodone and metabolites; and LC-MS assays for cocaine and metabolites in urine. All employ Agilent instrumentation and optimized sample preparations.

Methodology and Instrumentation

Sample preparation ranges from direct headspace for alcohols to protein precipitation and SPE for drugs. Derivatization is required for GC/MS when analyzing polar compounds, whereas LC/MS and CE-MS allow direct analysis via electrospray or chemical ionization. Platforms include Agilent 6890/7890 GC with headspace samplers, 7000B QQQ GC/MS/MS, 6000 and 7000 series LC/MS systems, 1200/1100 series LC coupled to MSD VL/SL, quadrupole, QQQ, ion trap, TOF, and QTOF analyzers. Chromatographic columns are chosen for rapid resolution (e.g., ZORBAX Eclipse Plus C18, RRHT StableBond SB-C18) or for volatile separations (e.g., CP-Wax for alcohols, DB-ALC columns for blood alcohol GC). Acquisition modes include full-scan, SIM, MRM, and Auto-MSn.

Key Results and Discussion

Blood alcohol (GC-HS-GC/FID): LOD ~0.002 g/L, LOQ ~0.01 g/L, cycle time <5 min, repeatability RSD <1%. GC/MS/MS THC in hair (CID): LOD 0.002 pg/mg, LOQ 0.01 pg/mg, 7 min run. Fast GC/MS/MS steroids: 2–5 ng/mL LOD, 12 min cycle. GC-QQQ screening of blood: simultaneous confirmation of >40 drugs, sub-pg detection. CE-MSn screening: broad databases (>500 compounds), automated MSn for blood and hair. LC/MS opiates: LOQ 5 ng/mL, linear up to 0.75 mg/L, direct SPE. LC/MS benzos: LOQ 0.02 μg/mL, high linearity, rapid isocratic UHPLC. LC-MS of oxycodone: LOQ 0.2–1 ng/mL, 6 min run. LC/MS of cocaine in urine: LOQ 5–25 ng/mL, CV <7%. Multi-platform comparison: QQQ best for quantitation in targeted assays; IT, TOF, QTOF excel in qualitative screening and identification; QTOF allows accurate-mass confirmation and non-target screening.

Benefits and Practical Applications

These methods reduce sample-prep complexity (eliminating derivatization for LC/MS), increase throughput with rapid separations, and improve specificity via tandem MS or accurate-mass detection. Broad-spectrum screening and targeted confirmation can be integrated, minimizing false positives and maximizing laboratory efficiency.

Future Trends and Applications

Future directions include expansion of high-resolution mass spectrometry (Orbitrap, advanced QTOF) for non-targeted metabolite profiling, further miniaturization (microflow and nanoflow LC), automation of sample preparation, laboratory info-management integration (LIMS), and the application of data-independent acquisition (DIA) for comprehensive toxicology screening.

Conclusion

A range of advanced analytical techniques is available for forensic toxicology, each with distinct advantages. Pick methods to match required sensitivity, throughput, and the breadth of analytes. Agilent’s GC/MS, LC/MS, and CE-MS solutions provide flexible, robust workflows from screening to quantitation and confirmation.

References

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