Measurement of methamphetamine on surfaces using surface plasmon resonance

Abstract

Field methods are needed to assess the contamination of surfaces by methamphetamine from illicit drug manufacturing. This study performed a feasibility study on the use of a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) based instrument (SensiQ Discovery) in the evaluation of surface contamination by methamphetamine. The main goal was to see if the method could be sensitive enough for field measurements. A competitive immunochemical assay was developed for the instrument which was able to measure methamphetamine at 9 ng/ml with a range of 9–250 ng/ml. Methamphetamine was spiked onto ceramic tiles and the assay was able to detect methamphetamine contamination at 25 ng/100 cm², which is below the 50 ng/100 cm² standard used for surface cleanup assessment. The instrument is compact and mobile and is sensitive enough for use for measurement of methamphetamine on surfaces, so it is a candidate for a field method for methamphetamine surface contamination. Its use for this application will require further development of the instrument to make it more convenient to use. Also further evaluation of ruggedness and use of the instrument under various environmental conditions such as temperature and humidity are needed to define conditions under which the instrument can be employed in field measurements.

Keywords::

• Competitive immunoassay
• methamphetamine surface measurement
• surface plasmon resonance (SPR)

Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by an interagency agreement between NIOSH and NIEHS (Y1-ES-0001-Clinical Immunotoxicity).

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.