Vol.2, Issue4-December 2014 CONTENT

(INSERM is the French National Institute of Medical and Health Research).

The determination of drugs of abuse in biological fluids is still an important issue in toxicology, in cases of driving under the influence of drugs (DUID) as well as in forensic toxicology. On-line Solid-Phase-Extraction coupled with UHPLC-MS/MS has been detailed as a method, but it often results in significant carry-over after highly concentrated samples have been analyzed. Proposed here is an approach based on the QuEChERS (acronym for Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged and Safe) sample preparation principle, followed by UHPLC-MS/MS.

Cannabis has demonstrated health benefits since ancient times. While less than 6% of today’s studies on marijuana analyze its medical properties, publications to date indicate that cannabis shows great promise for the treatment of many diseases and symptoms. However, patients with cancer or severe pain, for example, have been blocked from these benefits since the mid-20th century when federal regulations were enacted that prohibited the use, sales and distribution of marijuana due to its psychoactive properties.

The following posters were presented at recent international conferences in 2014, such as ASMS 2014, ISCC 2014 and TIAFT 2014. Click the title URLs to download the posters of interest.

[Forensics]

Increasing numbers of criminal cases involving drugs and poisons have been reported in Japan. For instance, sleeping pills have been frequently used in atrocious crimes, such as murder and sexual assault. In addition, there have been many cases where foreign substances, such as agrochemicals or poisons, were mixed into food or drinks. Thus, analyses of drugs and poisons in various specimens, as well as determination of drugs and metabolites in biological specimens, are becoming increasingly important in criminal investigations.

[Topics]

The EDX-7000/8000 won the 2014 IBO Industrial Gold Award for Analytical Instrument Industrial Design on August 15, 2014.