Feasibility of using GC/FT-IR for drug analysis in the forensic toxicology laboratory

New developments in cryogenic sample deposition for gas chromatography/Fourier transform infrared (GC/FT-IR) spectroscopy have increased the sensitivity of the technique 100-1000-fold, to match or surpass that of gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The current methods of GC/MS have led to some false positive identifications in drug testing labs. New methods employing GC/FT-IR will provide absolute identification through infrared fingerprinting with routine detection in the ppb range. GC/FT-IR methods are being developed which indicate low picogram amounts of material are detectable. Some preliminary data have shown that reference-quality spectra can be obtained from samples containing 200 ng/mL of amphetamines, and spectra from samples below the 25 ng/mL level for amphetamines can be obtained for identification purposes. These and other applications will be addressed along with limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantitation (LOQ), and linearity in comparison to commonly used techniques.