Top 10 Forensic Compounds/Topics of 2016 – EtG/EtS Analysis in Urine

In a new paper by Lori Smith et al, published in the Journal of Food and Agricultural Chemistry (DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.7b02280), a wide and diverse range of anticoagulant rodenticides (ARs) were analyzed in rodent liver samples using UCT’s dispersive SPE (d-SPE) tubes for sample clean-up. ARs are used to control rodent populations, acting as vitamin K antagonists by inhibiting vitamin K epoxide reductase. Consequently, formation of prothrombin and related blood-clotting factors (VII, IX and X) are blocked, causing massive hemorrhage and mortality. 

Even within states where recreational cannabis has not been legalized, government funded crime laboratories are seeing an uptick in seized plant and edible cannabis cases.  While toxicology sections are equipped with the tools needed to extract said samples if tasked with this additional work, drug chemistry units may struggle to treat the various edible forms, tinctures and waxes that appear in their laboratory.  

UCT is recognized for its support for the forensic toxicology community not only domestically, but abroad. This is demonstrated in a new article published in the journal Toxicologie Analytique & Clinique authored by Dr.J Long et al.,(http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.toxac.2016.11.003 2352-0078). In this paper, the authors utilize UCT’s famous Clean Screen ® DAU solid phase extraction column (ZSDAU020) to extract remifentanil, a short acting fentanyl analogue, from post mortem blood samples. This is believed to be the first report of a concentration of remifentanil in postmortem blood.