There is a lot you can tell from a droplet of blood as it’s snapshot of what could be present in a body at any given moment. In the following application note, LC-MS/MS Screening of 64 New Psychoactive Substances Using Dried Blood Spots, researchers did just that as they used dried blood spots (DBS) opposed to the more invasive venipuncture technique to detect 64 psychoactive substances in samples.
To accomplish this research a highly sensitive QTRAP® LC-MS/MS was used in Multiple Reaction Monitoring (MRM) mode using the Scheduled MRM™ Algorithm. The importance of the method is that it can be expanded upon which is useful to government attempts at control the advent of new substances. When the European Monitoring System for Drugs and Addiction (EMCDDA) launched its Early Warning Program notification of new substances, for example, reported cases increased from 14 in 2008 to 98 in 2015.
As public awareness and government regulations like this become more profound, more accurate and less invasive testing methods are essential to keeping psychoactive substances off store shelves. In addition to sensitivity, the specimens can be easily stored, shipped, and maintained for future forensic testing.
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