Fast saliva analysis by GC –MS with Cold EI and Open Probe Fast GC–MS with Cold EI for the detection of cannabis usage

AbstractSaliva is a body fluid that is much easier to collect and analyze than blood. Thus, saliva analysis for the detection of delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (delta 9-THC) can serve as a tool for law enforcement agents to detect cannabis consumption by drivers. Fast saliva analysis for the presence of delta 9-THC and/or cannabidiol (CBD) is described with both gas chromatography –mass spectrometry (GC–MS) with Cold electron ionization (EI) with good separation and in 10 min and/or with Open Probe Fast GC–MS with Cold EI in under 1 min full analysis cycle time. Saliva was taken directly from donors' tongues on a thin glass rod that was used “as is” for analysis. The saliva was thermally desorbed with a modified ChromatoProbe device inside the gas chromatograph (GC) injector and in an Open Probe (Agilent name QuickProbe) for its sub-1-min analysis. Cold EI is based on coupling of the GC and mass spectrometer (MS) with a supersonic molecular beam and on EI o f vibrationally cold sample molecules during their flight through a contact-free ion source (thereby named Cold EI). A revised type of Open Probe Fast GC–MS on the bench is also described. Our saliva analysis was characterized by:

Saliva can be collected in the field and transported to the lab fo r analyses “as is” without any sample preparation.
Easy detection of cannabis consumption from cigarettes and/or other cannabis products.
Distinction between the isomers delta 9-THC and CBD.
Ultra-fast analysis i...

Source: Journal of Mass Spectrometry - November 14, 2023 Category: Chemistry Authors: Oneg Elkabets, Benny Neumark, Aviv Amirav Tags: RESEARCH ARTICLE Source Type: research