Citation

Adamowicz P, Gieroń J, Gil D, Lechowicz W, Skulska A, Tokarczyk B. J. Anal. Toxicol. 2016; 40(4): 272-276.

Affiliation

Institute of Forensic Research, Westerplatte 9, 31-033 Krakow, Poland.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Preston Publications)

DOI

10.1093/jat/bkw018

PMID

26989222

Abstract

3-Methylmethcathinone (3-MMC) has been one of the most popular new psychoactive substances (NPS) in Poland in recent years. 3-MMC was found in blood in 95 cases sent to the Institute of Forensic Research (IFR) during the two and a half year period, from 2013 to half of 2015. 3-MMC was determined in 13 and 48 cases in 2013 and 2014 year-round casework, respectively, while only in the first half of 2015 year it was present in 34 cases. In most cases, 3-MMC was detected together with other novel psychoactive substances and conventional drugs. Blood analyses for 3-MMC were carried out using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS). The concentrations of 3-MMC in all 95 cases were in the range from traces (<1 ng/mL) up to 1.6 µg/mL (mean concentration 51.3 ng/mL, median 18.5 ng/mL). Concentration ranges in particular types of cases were respectively: DUID cases: 1-171 ng/mL; traffic accidents: <1-29 ng/mL; drug possession: 2-408 ng/mL; intoxication: <1-1600 ng/mL and other: <1-61 ng/mL. The parameters of the developed method such as the LOD (0.02 ng/mL) and LOQ (1 ng/mL) demonstrate that the method is well suited for the analysis of blood samples for 3-MMC and covers the range of typical blood concentrations.

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Language: en