GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY/MASS SPECTROMETRY FOR THE DETERMINATION OF COCAINE AND BENZOYLECGONINE OVER A WIDE CONCENTRATION RANGE (LESS THAN 0.005-5 MG/DL) IN POSTMORTEM BLOOD

• NCJ Number: 146651
• Journal: Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 39 Issue: 1 Dated: (January 1994) Pages: 136-149
• Author(s): M R Corburt; E M Koves
• Date Published: 1994
• Length: 14 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Technical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Presented at the 45th annual meeting of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, 1993, Boston

Annotation

The presence of cocaine and benzoylecgonine in blood was investigated using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry and selected ion monitoring.

Abstract

The method involved an extraction based on rotating an Amberlite XAD-2 blood mixture and using deuterated internal standards, with derivatization of benzoylecgonine using diazopropane. The method was applied primarily to postmortem blood samples from 180 forensic cases and was statistically evaluated. Standard curves with logarithmic-transformed data were constructed over the concentration range from 0.005 to 5 mg/dL. The use of a wide concentration range precluded using smaller sample sizes in repeated extractions to conform to a narrower concentration range of standards. The extraction method's recovery was 85 percent for both cocaine and benzoylecgonine. The limit of detection for cocaine and benzoylecgonine extractions from 1 mL forensic blood samples was 0.00025 mg/dL. The authors conclude that the method is routinely reliable and applicable to forensic toxicology investigations. 36 references, 6 tables, and 2 figures