College of Life Sciences, Thomas Jefferson University, 1020 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA.
NMS Labs, 200 Welsh Road, Horsham, PA 19044, USA.
J Anal Toxicol. 2024 Mar 28;48(3):141-149. doi: 10.1093/jat/bkae010.
Previous research has evaluated the extent to which cocaine and other drugs were detectable on currency in the USA. The literature was in agreement that the majority of bills exhibited some degree of contamination. With the increase of fentanyl in the illicit drug supply, this study was designed to evaluate the extent that fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine and other substances were present on circulating currency in 2022. A quantitative assay using liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry was developed and validated to detect six analytes: fentanyl, 4-anilino-N-phenethylpiperidine, acetylfentanyl, benzylfentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine. One-dollar bills were collected from 13 cities across the country. Sample preparation consisted of soaking the bills in methanol followed by liquid-liquid extraction. Chromatographic separation was achieved using a C18 analytical column and gradient elution with ammonium formate in water (5 mM, pH 3) and 0.1% formic acid in acetonitrile. The quantitative working range for this assay was 0.1 μg to 1.0 μg per bill (equivalent to 1 ng/mL to 100 ng/mL of extract). Fentanyl was detected on the majority (63%) of samples, with 61% of samples having ≥0.1 μg of fentanyl and 4% of samples having ≥1.0 μg. Cocaine and methamphetamine were detected on 100% and 98% of bills, respectively, typically in amounts >1.0 μg. The remaining fentanyl-related substances were detected in 15% of samples in amounts no >0.69 μg per bill and exclusively in the presence of fentanyl. Unsurprisingly, areas of the country with higher incidence of fentanyl use yielded higher frequency of contaminated bills and higher concentrations. Human exposure to drugs on currency is unlikely to have any significant impacts toxicologically or pharmacologically; however, our research findings suggest that paper currency could serve as a useful substrate for surveillance of drug trends regionally, nationally and/or internationally.
先前的研究评估了可卡因和其他毒品在美钞上的检出程度。文献一致认为，大多数钞票都有一定程度的污染。随着芬太尼在非法毒品供应中的增加，本研究旨在评估 2022 年芬太尼、可卡因、甲基苯丙胺和其他物质在流通货币上的存在程度。建立并验证了一种使用液相色谱-三重四极杆质谱的定量分析方法，用于检测六种分析物：芬太尼、4-苯胺基-N-苯乙基哌啶、乙酰芬太尼、苯并芬太尼、可卡因和甲基苯丙胺。从全国 13 个城市收集 1 美元钞票。样品制备包括将钞票浸泡在甲醇中，然后进行液-液萃取。使用 C18 分析柱和梯度洗脱，以水（5mM，pH3）中的甲酸铵和乙腈中的 0.1%甲酸作为洗脱液，实现色谱分离。该分析方法的定量工作范围为每张钞票 0.1μg 至 1.0μg（相当于 1ng/mL 至 100ng/mL 的提取物）。大多数（63%）样本中检测到芬太尼，61%的样本中芬太尼含量≥0.1μg，4%的样本中芬太尼含量≥1.0μg。可卡因和甲基苯丙胺分别在 100%和 98%的钞票上被检出，含量通常大于 1.0μg。其余的芬太尼相关物质在 15%的样本中被检出，每张钞票的含量不超过 0.69μg，且仅在存在芬太尼的情况下被检出。毫不奇怪，芬太尼使用量较高的地区钞票污染的频率更高，浓度也更高。人类接触货币上的毒品在毒理学或药理学上不太可能产生任何重大影响；然而，我们的研究结果表明，纸币可能成为监测区域、国家和/或国际毒品趋势的有用基质。
