Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Bioanalytical procedures for detection of chemical agents in hair in the case of drug-facilitated crimes

  • Review
  • Published:
Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The use of a drug to modify a person’s behavior for criminal gain is not a recent phenomenon. However, the recent increase in reports of drug-facilitated crimes (sexual assault, robbery) has caused alarm in the general public. The drugs involved can be pharmaceuticals, such as benzodiazepines (flunitrazepam, lorazepam, etc.), hypnotics (zopiclone, zolpidem), sedatives (neuroleptics, some anti-H1) or anaesthetics (γ-hydroxybutyrate, ketamine), drugs of abuse, such as cannabis, ecstasy or LSD, or more often ethanol. To perform successful toxicological examinations, the analyst must follow some important rules: (1) obtain as soon as possible the corresponding biological specimens (blood and urine); (2) collect hair about 1 month after the alleged event; (3) use sophisticated analytical techniques (gas or liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry, MS/MS, headspace gas chromatography); and (4) take care in the interpretation of the findings. Drugs used to facilitate sexual assaults can be difficult to detect (active products at low doses, chemical instability), possess amnesic properties and can be rapidly cleared from the body (short half-life). In these situations, blood or even urine can be of low interest. This is the reason why some laboratories have developed an original approach based on hair testing. Hair was suggested as a valuable specimen in situations where, as a result of a delay in reporting the crime, natural processes have eliminated the drug from typical biological specimens. While there are a lot of papers that have focused on the identification of drugs in hair following chronic drug use, those dealing with a single dose are very scarce. The experience of the author and a review of the existing literature will be presented for cases involving benzodiazepines, hypnotics, γ-hydroxybutyrate and various sedatives or chemical weapons. The expected concentrations in hair are in the low picogram/milligram range for most compounds. Hair analysis may be a useful adjunct to conventional drug testing in sexual assault. It should not be considered as an alternative to blood and urine analyses, but as a complement. This approach may find useful applications, but the definition of legally defensible cutoff values would require much more data. MS/MS technologies appear as a prerequisite in drug-facilitated cases.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Wells D (2001) Sci Justice 41:197–199

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Hindmarch I, ElSohly M, Gambles J et al (2001) J Clin Forensic Med 8:197–205

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. LeBeau M, Andollo W, Hearn WL et al (1999) J Forensic Sci 44:227–230

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Kintz P, Cirimele V, Goullé JP, Ludes B (2001) Clin Chem 47:2033–2034

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Verstraete A (2002) Ann Toxicol Anal 14:390–394

    Google Scholar 

  6. Goullé JP, Chèze M, Pépin G (2003) J Anal Toxicol 27:574–580

    Google Scholar 

  7. Kintz P, Cirimele V, Jamey C, Ludes B (2003) J Forensic Sci 48:195–200

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Shen M, Liu XQ, Liu W, Xiang P, Shen B (2006) Fa Xi Xue Za Zhi 22:48–51

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Laloup M, Ramirez Fernandez M, De Boeck G, Wood M, Maes V, Samyn N (2005) J Anal Toxicol 29:616–626

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Villain M, Concheiro M, Cirimele V, Kintz P (2005) J Chromatogr B 825:72–78

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Villain M, Chèze M, Dumestre V, Ludes B, Kintz P (2004) J Anal Toxicol 28:516–519

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Kintz P, Villain M, Dumestre-Toulet V, Ludes B (2005) J Clin Forensic Med 12:36–41

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Villain M, Chèze M, Tracqui A, Ludes B, Kintz P (2004) Forensic Sci Int 143:157–161

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Villain M, Chèze M, Ludes B, Kintz P (2004) Forensic Sci Int 145:117–121

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Kintz P, Villain M, Chèze M, Pépin G (2005) Forensic Sci Int 153:222–226

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Kintz P, Villain M, Cirimèle V, Pépin G, Ludes B (2004) Forensic Sci Int 145:131–135

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Chèze M, Villain M, Pépin G (2004) Forensic Sci Int 145:123–130

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Frison G, Favretto D, Tedeschi L, Ferrara SD (2003) Forensic Sci Int 133:171–174

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Villain M, Tournoud C, Flesch F, Cirimele V, Kintz P (2006) J Chromatogr B 842:111–115

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Bartsch C, Risse M, Schütz H, Weigand N, Weiler G (2003) Forensic Sci Int 137:147–151

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Sporkert F, Augsburger M, Brandt-Casadevall C, Mangin P (2005) Ann Toxicol Anal 17:127

    Google Scholar 

  22. Pépin G, Chèze M, Duffort G, Vayssette F (2002) Ann Toxicol Anal 14:395–406

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Kintz P, Villain M, Pujol ML, Salquebre G, Cirimele V (2006) In: Society of Forensic Toxicologists annual meeting, Austin

  24. Kintz P, Villain M, Cirimele V (2006) J Anal Toxicol 30:400–402

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Kintz P, Evans J, Villain M, Cirimele V (2007) Forensic Sci Int (in press)

  26. Kintz P, Villain M, Cirimele V (2006) Ther Drug Monit 28:442–446

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Cheze M, Duffort G, Deveaux M, Pépin G (2005) Forensic Sci Int 153:3–10

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Negrusz A, Gaensslen RE (2003) Anal Bioanal Chem 376:1192–1197

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Saint-Martin P, Furet Y, O’Byrne P, Bouyssy M, Paintaud G, Autret-Leca E (2006) Thérapie 61:145–150

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Pragst F, Balikova MA (2006) Clin Chim Acta 370:17–49

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pascal Kintz.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Kintz, P. Bioanalytical procedures for detection of chemical agents in hair in the case of drug-facilitated crimes. Anal Bioanal Chem 388, 1467–1474 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-007-1209-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-007-1209-z

Keywords

Navigation