Testing methods for drugs currently require long chromatographic methods and sample preparation or immunoassay techniques (EMIT) with confirmation by GC/MS or LC/MS/MS.
These methods can be time consuming and laborious. The majority of urine testing methods cover only a limited number of metabolites, since reference standards are poorly available, making it difficult to keep up with the changing illicit drug scene. Due to the variety of compounds available, it is important to monitor the entire spectral range, which is easily performed using a time-of-flight-mass spectrometer (TOF MS). The ability to analyze samples rapidly is desirable, as drug seizures may result in thousands of samples.

A method was developed using the AxION® 2 TOF MS integrated with the AxION Direct Sample Analysis™ (DSA™) system for testing various classes of street seized, illicit designer drugs, and growth hormones in solid, liquids as well as metabolites in urine.

This method enables fast screening and confirmation with minimal or no sample preparation using the AxION DSA system. We present a real life case study for the analysis of 369 unknown drugs from seized pills, vials, powders and urine samples.