Examination of Firearms Review: 2007 to 2010 - Interpol

4.3.2 Biological
Intensive work has been carried out to determine levels of toxins in the
body, 84 several using new liquid chromatographic-tandem mass spectrometric
(LC-MS-MS) methods. Such a method has been developed for the
simultaneous determination of aconitine, mesaconitine, hypaconitine, and
jesaconitine in whole blood, 85 aconitine in blood and urine, 86 or has been used
for the identification of cytosine in post-mortem samples. 87 Saxitoxin and
neosaxitoxin in urine samples preconcentrated by solid-phase extraction
could be identified by electrospray ionisation and tandem mass
spectrometry. 88 Multi-analyte procedures have been developed for the
detection and validated quantification of the toxic alkaloids aconitine, atropine,
colchicine, coniine, cytisine, nicotine and cotinine, physostigmine, and
scopolamine in plasma using liquid chromatography-atmospheric pressure
chemical ionisation-mass spectrometry (LC-APCI-MS) and liquid
chromatography-electrospray ionisation-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-
MS/MS) after solid-phase extraction. 89
Ricinine, a piperidine alkaloidal toxin found in the castor bean, is often
described as a biomarker for exposure to ricin. This biomarker was recently
successfully identified in blood, urine, and vitreous humour specimens using
solid-phase extraction and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry
(LC-MS/MS) with an electrospray source in positive ionisation mode. 90
Abrin – a toxic protein similar to ricin that is found in the jequirity (or rosary)
seed – has been analysed in urine samples subjected to solid-phase
extraction prior to high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC)
separation and mass spectrometric analysis. 91
A different method to identify exposure to ricin is based on a sensitive
luminescent assay detecting the adenine produced by a ribosome
depurination catalysed by ricin. 92
More sophisticated methods are also starting to appear, such as the use of
nano-electrospray hybrid quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry for the
accurate identification of anatoxin A. 93
4.3.3 Radiological
Medical intervention in the aftermath of a radiological or nuclear incident will
require rapid assessment of the extent of exposure of those involved, usually
via the determination of the internal dose received. 94 A recent study has
compared different methods of inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry
(ICP-MS) for the determination of plutonium in urine with a thermal ionisation
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