SOFT 2004 Meeting Abstracts - Society of Forensic Toxicologists

M34
COMPARISON OF ORAL FLUID WITH URINE TESTING IN DRE CERTIFICATIONS
Michael A. Wagner!*, Colleen Scarneo l , Emily Rice l , Kris Valas l , Susan Lefebvre l and Christina Werner2
IOepartment of Safety, State Police Forensic Toxicology Group 33, Hazen Dr., Concord, NH 03301, and
20raSure Technologies, 150 Webster Street, Bethlehem, PA 18015
Determination of impairment by drugs in OWl cases or in the work place often requires the analysis of biological
specimens. The most common matrices tested are blood, urine and saliva. Each of these matrices has inherent
advantages and disadvantages. For example, urine has advantages of providing a historical perspective to drug
use yet does not supply impairment interpretation. Saliva has the potential for supplying interpretation with
respect to blood concentration and impairment with similar detection widows to blood. This abstract reviewed
61 ORE cases, July 8 1h 2002 until June 30 1h 2003, involving roadside stops for OWl and ORE certifications
events. Twenty-six of the 61 cases involved ORE certification events such as; concerts, and evaluation nights
arranged by various police departments were the subject of this initial study. During the certification events the
laboratory personnel was able to attend and assist law enforcement with the collection of oral fluids and urine
samples. Oral fluids were collected using the Intercept Collection device from OraSure Technologies Inc. The
process entailed having the subject place an oral collection pad (attached to a handle) between the lower cheek
and gum, rubbing back and forth until moist. Most subjects just sucked on the pad until the sampling time
interval was completed (2 minutes). The pad was placed in the sampling tube containing 800 uls of OraSure
buffer solution. The specimens were collected typically upon completion of the ORE evaluation. Matched urine
and oral fluids specimens were collected. The oral fluids were tested in the on Intercept® Micro-Plate EIA,
while the urines used the on Micro-Plate EIA serum kits optimized for urine analysis. Both analyses were
performed on a PersonalLABTM automated analyzer. All subjects were screened for seven classes of drugs:
Benzodiazepines, Cocaine, Cannabinoids, Opiates, Methamphetamines, Amphetamines, Barbiturates, PCP, and
Methadone.
Summarized in Table I are the correlated analytical results between urine and oral fluid testing as they relate to
ORE interpretation. The positive rates with respect to the various drug categories appears to be the highest for
Cocaines and Cannabinoids, 87% and 94% respectively, while Barbiturates had the highest percentage of oral
fluid positive results 75% versus 25% for urine. ORE percent corroboration varied between 25% for Stimulants,
36% for Depressants, 47% for Cannabinoids, and 100% for Narcotic Analgesics. These results seem to parallel
with the subject's admission rate. Certainly one issue confounding the ORE corroboration was the percentage of
positive polydrug cases. 57% of the cases had two or more drug categories test positive, 27% screened positive
for three or more drugs, 15% of the cases screened positive for four or more drugs, and 8% of the cases screened
positive for five or more drugs.
The ease of administration for oral fluid testing in ORE evaluations may provide additional information with
respect to impairment interpretation. This initial study demonstrated that Cocaine and Cannabinoids appeared to
have a better correlation with urine as compared to other drug classes, while Barbiturates had the highest
specificity for oral fluids.
Table I
! Drug Urine Oral No. Tests Urine OF ORE Subject
Categories NH-ForenTox NH-Foren Tox "'+" "+" Opinions Admission
Cutoff ng/mL Cutoffng/mL
Benzodiaz 100 1.0 11 11 2 3 2
cac 100 5.0 16 13 14 4 4
THC 20 1.0 17 16 12 8 IO i
Opiates 200 10 8 8 4 8 5
Methamph 300 40 4 4 1 1 2
Barbiturate 200 20 3 1 3 2 2
Methadone 300 5.0 3 3 1 3 3
PCP 25 1.0 ND - - - -
Amphet 300 100 NO - - - -
Key Words: DRE, Oral Fluids, Urine Drug Screen, ErA
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