Citation

Troiano G, Mercurio I, Golfera M, Nante N, Melai P, Lancia M, Bacci M. Eur. J. Public Health 2017; 27(6): 1097-1101.

Affiliation

Legal Medicine, Forensic Science and Sports Medicine, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Oxford University Press)

DOI

10.1093/eurpub/ckx100

PMID

29016884

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The analysis of drug traces on banknotes with different validated techniques can provide important information about the types of substances that are used in a geographical region. The aim of our review was to investigate banknotes' contamination by cocaine, by its metabolite, but also by other drugs.

METHODS: A systematic literature search (English written literature) was conducted in MEDLINE, and Scopus, collecting studies from 1974 till 2017. The Key search terms included: 'banknote AND drug'; 'banknote AND cocaine'.

RESULTS: The literature search yielded 88 publications; 9 were included in our review. In six studies that showed banknotes' positivity to cocaine, the percentage ranged from 2.5% to 100%. The concentration of cocaine ranged from 0.09 ng/note to 889 µg/note. Benzoylecgonine was indentified only in three studies with a range from 0.71 to 130 ng/note. Other indentified drugs were: amphetamine derivatives, opiates, benzodiazepines.

CONCLUSIONS: Circulating banknotes could be used to indicate substances used in a population, and those recently introduced in a geographical macro-area. The identification of very high amounts of cocaine can provide important information for the identification of banknotes used in illegal trafficking.

Language: en