The Application Notebook-12-01-2016

In March 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) published a report that stated that glyphosate was “probably carcinogenic to humans”. Ever since, the use of this chemical has been highly controversial. In some countries, including the USA and Australia, there are already limit values in effect for the weed killer.

Opiate abuse is drastically on the rise in the United States. In addition to traditional naturally occurring opiate compounds, forensic toxicologists also need to be able to rapidly identify synthetic opioid-like drugs. A rapid, three-step solid-phase extraction (SPE) procedure for the identification and quantification of fentanyl and its major urinary metabolite norfentanyl, in addition to four “designer” compounds, U-47700, W-18, W-15, and furanyl fentanyl, is presented here. As a result of the rapid use and abuse of fentanyl in medical and recreational settings, respectively, it is important to develop a method that can accurately extract this Schedule II drug from any other novel compounds that may be present.