Applied Chemicals and Materials Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO, United States of America.
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, United States of America.
J Breath Res. 2023 May 22;17(3):037103. doi: 10.1088/1752-7163/acd410.
An accurate cannabis breathalyzer based on quantitation of the psychoactive cannabinoid Δ-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) could be an important tool for deterring impaired driving. Such a device does not exist. Simply translating what is known about alcohol breathalyzers is insufficient because ethanol is detected as a vapor. THC has extremely low volatility and is hypothesized to be carried in breath by aerosol particles formed from lung surfactant. Exhaled breath aerosols can be recovered from electrostatic filter devices, but consistent quantitative results across multiple studies have not been demonstrated. We used a simple-to-use impaction filter device to collect breath aerosols from participants before and after they smoked a legal market cannabis flower containing ∼25% Δ-tetrahydrocannabinolic acid. Breath collection occurred at an intake session (baseline-intake) and four weeks later in a federally-compliant mobile laboratory 15 min before (baseline-experimental) and 1 h after cannabis use (post-use). Cannabis use was in the participant's residence. Participants were asked to follow a breathing maneuver designed to increase aerosol production. Breath extracts were analyzed by liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry with multiple reaction monitoring of two transitions for analytes and their deuterated internal standards. Over more than 1 yr, 42 breath samples from 18 participants were collected and analyzed in six batches. THC was quantified in 31% of baseline-intake, 36% of baseline-experimental, and 80% of 1 h post-use breath extracts. The quantities observed 1 h post-use are compared to those reported in six other pilot studies that sampled breath at known intervals following cannabis use and are discussed with respect to participant characteristics and breath sampling protocols. Larger studies with verified abstinence and more post-use timepoints are necessary to generate statistically significant data to develop meaningful cannabis breathalyzer technology.
基于对精神活性大麻素 Δ-四氢大麻酚 (THC) 的定量分析，开发一种准确的大麻呼气分析仪，可能成为阻止吸毒后驾车的重要工具。但目前还没有这样的设备。简单地将已知的酒精呼气分析仪进行转化是不够的，因为乙醇是作为蒸气被检测到的。THC 的挥发性极低，据推测是由肺表面活性剂形成的气溶胶颗粒携带在呼气中。呼出的呼吸气溶胶可以从静电过滤装置中回收，但多个研究并未证明其具有一致的定量结果。我们使用一种易于使用的冲击式过滤装置，在参与者吸食含有约 25%Δ-四氢大麻酚酸的合法市场大麻花前后，从他们的呼吸中收集气溶胶。呼吸收集在摄入阶段（基线摄入）进行，四周后在符合联邦规定的移动实验室中，在使用大麻前 15 分钟（基线实验）和使用后 1 小时（使用后）进行。大麻的使用是在参与者的居住地进行的。要求参与者按照一种旨在增加气溶胶产生的呼吸动作进行。通过液相色谱-串联质谱法，用分析物及其氘代内标物的两个跃迁进行多反应监测，对呼吸提取物进行分析。在超过 1 年的时间里，从 18 名参与者中收集了 42 个呼吸样本，在六个批次中进行了分析。在基线摄入、基线实验和使用后 1 小时的 31%、36%和 80%的呼吸提取物中定量了 THC。与其他六个在已知时间点采集大麻使用后呼吸样本的试点研究报告的结果进行比较，并根据参与者特征和呼吸采样方案进行了讨论。为了生成有统计学意义的数据，以开发有意义的大麻呼气分析仪技术，需要进行更大规模的研究，这些研究需要经过验证的戒断和更多的使用后时间点。
