Determination of Cocaine in Samples of Hair Using the Chromatographic Column, ISRP‐C₁₈

Abstract

A method has been developed for the determination of the cocaine levels in samples of hair, using a chromatographic column internal surface reverse phase (ISRP)‐C₁₈, for direct injection of the extracts of hair, without purification or derivation of the sample. The method allows monitoring an individual stopped for using or making cocaine. This method allowed the determination of levels of cocaine concentration in 75% of the analyzed samples of chemical dependents' hair, with cocaine detected at levels of 0.37–16.85 µg g⁻¹. In the other analyzed samples (25%), the drug was not detected, because the corresponding individuals told us that they consumed cocaine infrequently and in small amounts. The detection limit determined was 0.003 µg L⁻¹. The method is adequate for the determination of cocaine concentrations present in samples of hair.

Keywords:

• Cocaine
• ISRP‐Column
• Hair
• HPLC

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the FAPESP, for their financial support and also the Labors Health Institute in Bauru, SP, Brazil, for the laboratory infrastructure. The authors also thank for Mr. Edson Cardia, police officer, for his donation of cocaine. They are also grateful to Mrs. Rita de Cássia Muzardo Manin and Ms. Roseli Aparecida Muzardo, for their non‐drugs user's hair samples. They are thankful to Clinic Squadron of the Life, for the collection of hair samples of cocaine dependents.