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Research ArticleArticle

Noninvasive Detection of Cocaine and Heroin Use with Single Fingerprints: Determination of an Environmental Cutoff

Mahado Ismail, Derek Stevenson, Catia Costa, Roger Webb, Marcel de Puit, Melanie Bailey
DOI: 10.1373/clinchem.2017.281469 Published May 2018
Mahado Ismail
Department of Chemistry, University of Surrey, Surrey, UK;
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  • For correspondence: mahado.ismail@surrey.ac.uk
Derek Stevenson
Department of Chemistry, University of Surrey, Surrey, UK;
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Catia Costa
Ion Beam Centre, University of Surrey, Surrey, UK;
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Roger Webb
Ion Beam Centre, University of Surrey, Surrey, UK;
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Marcel de Puit
Netherlands Forensic Institute, Department of Digital Technology and Biometrics, The Hague, the Netherlands; Department of Chemical Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Delft, the Netherlands.
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Melanie Bailey
Department of Chemistry, University of Surrey, Surrey, UK;
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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Recent publications have explored the possibility of using fingerprints to confirm drug use, but none has yet dealt with environmental contamination from fingertips. Here we explored the possibility of establishing an environmental cutoff for drug testing from a single fingerprint.

METHODS: Fingerprint samples (n = 100) were collected from the hands of 50 nondrug users before and after handwashing to establish separate environmental cutoff values and testing protocols for cocaine, benzoylecgonine, heroin, and 6-monoacetylmorphine. The cutoff was challenged by testing the fingerprints of drug-free volunteers after shaking hands with drug users. Fingerprints from patients who testified to taking cocaine (n = 32) and heroin (n = 24) were also collected and analyzed.

RESULTS: A different cutoff value needed to be applied, depending on whether the fingerprints were collected as presented or after handwashing. Applying these cutoffs gave a 0% false-positive rate from the drug-free volunteers. After application of the cutoff, the detection rate (compared to patient testimony) for washed hands of patients was 87.5% for cocaine use and 100% for heroin use.

CONCLUSIONS: Fingerprints show enhanced levels of cocaine, heroin, and their respective metabolites in patients who testified to taking the substances, compared with the population of naïve drug users surveyed, and a cutoff (decision level) can be established. The cutoff is robust enough to account for small increases in analyte observed after secondary transfer.

  • Received for publication September 4, 2017.
  • Accepted for publication February 20, 2018.
  • © 2018 American Association for Clinical Chemistry
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Clinical Chemistry: 64 (6)
Vol. 64, Issue 6
June 2018
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Noninvasive Detection of Cocaine and Heroin Use with Single Fingerprints: Determination of an Environmental Cutoff
Mahado Ismail, Derek Stevenson, Catia Costa, Roger Webb, Marcel de Puit, Melanie Bailey
Clinical Chemistry Jun 2018, 64 (6) 909-917; DOI: 10.1373/clinchem.2017.281469
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Noninvasive Detection of Cocaine and Heroin Use with Single Fingerprints: Determination of an Environmental Cutoff
Mahado Ismail, Derek Stevenson, Catia Costa, Roger Webb, Marcel de Puit, Melanie Bailey
Clinical Chemistry Jun 2018, 64 (6) 909-917; DOI: 10.1373/clinchem.2017.281469

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