Examination of Firearms Review: 2007 to 2010 - Interpol

LOD was determined to be 3.0 pg/mg and the LOQ was fixed at 8.4 pg/mg
using 30-mg hair [329]. Hair analyses of autopsy cases with a history of
alcoholism and/or lesions caused by alcohol revealed that EtG concentrations
were in the range of 60-820 pg/mg. With the use of 72 head hair and 15 pubic
hair samples, a study was reported to collate 6-MAM and morphine
concentrations in head and pubic hair from heroin users [428]. A statistical
evaluation demonstrated that the lower, middle, and upper concentration
ranges of 6-MAM and morphine in head hair were in general higher than those
found in pubic hair. A qualitative drug screening method involving alkaline
hydrolysis, purification with mixed-mode SPE followed by LC-TOFMS analysis,
was developed for analysis of 32 hair samples from deceased drug addicts
[243]. The results identified 35 different drugs, and confirmed that drugs were
found in the majority (72%) of the cases; tramadol was predominantly found. A
study was conducted in the UK for 286 selected cases reported between 2004
and 2006, where hair was submitted in addition to the routine specimens for
analysis. The study demonstrated that hair analysis could provide vital
evidence to understand both the medical cause of death and the
circumstances surrounding the death [429].
The detection of EtG is of interest in both clinical and forensic contexts. EtG is
incorporated into growing hair, allowing retrospective investigation of chronic
alcohol abuse. To give more clues on the alcohol use history, several studies
were conducted in an attempt to differentiate social drinkers from heavy
drinkers [326,328]. The levels of EtG in heavy drinkers and social drinkers
using 30-mg samples were determined following cleanup using SPE graphite
cartridges and LC-MS/MS [326]. With an LOD and LOQ of 4 and 10 pg/mg,
respectively, hair EtG concentrations in social drinkers were 50 pg/mg for fatal cases with known history of heavy drinking. 98 hair
samples from volunteers of social drinkers and heavy drinkers, whose ethanol
daily intake (EDI) was estimated by means of a written questionnaire, were
analyzed by LC-MS/MS (LOQ: 3 pg/mg) [328]. The EtG level of 27 pg/mg was
concluded to provide the best compromise between sensitivity (0.92) and
specificity (0.96) at detecting an EDI of 60 g or higher during the last 3 months.
Hair specimens from 15 patients after alcohol abuse cessation were
segmented and analyzed for EtG, with measured concentrations varying from
8 to 261 pg/mg; good correlation was found with self-reported past alcohol
consumption [430]. In view of the usage of different cut-off levels of EtG used
by different laboratories, consensus by the Society of Hair Testing suggested a
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