Hair Analysis for Opiates: Hydromorphone and Hydrocodone as Indicators of Heroin Use

Abstract

Background: Identification of external contamination is a challenge in hair analysis. This study investigates metabolite ratios of hydromorphone to morphine and hydrocodone to codeine as indicators to distinguish contamination from heroin use provided that hydromorphone/hydrocodone intake is excluded. Results: Hair samples after external contamination with street heroin proved to be negative for hydromorphone/hydrocodone. Hair samples from individuals with suspected street heroin use/contamination or opiate medication were analyzed for 6-monoacetylmorphine, morphine, acetylcodeine, codeine, hydromorphone and hydrocodone, and metabolite ratios of hydromorphone to morphine and hydrocodone to codeine were assessed. Hair samples from individuals with medicinal heroin/morphine/codeine use displayed significantly higher metabolite ratios than those with suspected street heroin use/contamination. Conclusion: Hydromorphone/hydrocodone are solely formed during body passage. Thus, metabolite ratios can be used to distinguish morphine/heroin use from external contamination.

Keywords::

• drug analysis
• external contamination
• hair testing
• hydrocodone
• hydromorphone
• metabolite ratios
• opiates
• LC–MS/MS
• seized heroin
• Society of Hair Testing

Financial & competing interests disclosure

The authors express their gratitude to Emma Louise Kessler, MD for her generous legacy she donated to the Institute of Forensic Medicine at the University of Zurich, Switzerland for research purposes. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Ethical conduct of research

The authors state that they have obtained appropriate institutional review board approval or have followed the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki for all human or animal experimental investigations. In addition, for investigations involving human subjects, informed consent has been obtained from the participants involved.

Acknowledgements

We thank the cantonal police of Zurich, Switzerland, for providing the seized heroin samples and the volunteers who participated in the in vivo external contamination study.