Detection and quantification of low levels of benzoylecgonine in equine urine

Cocaine (COC) is a highly addictive plant alkaloid expressing strong psychostimulatory effect. It has no medical use in equine veterinary practice. The contamination of the environment with cocaine such as its presence on the US paper currency has been reported few times. There are anecdotal reports of low benzoylecgonine (BE) concentrations (usually much less than 100 ng/mL) being found in urine of race horses. In order to protect horsemen against harsh penalties associated with the presence of trace amounts of BE in horse urine as a result of environmental contamination, in February 2005 the Illinois Racing Board issued new medication rules that established the threshold level of 150 ng/mL for BE in equine urine. The penalties associated with this rule provide for increasing fines ($250, $500, $1000) with successive positive reports against a trainer for levels of BE below 150 ng/mL. A total of 19,315 urine samples were collected over the 2-year period of time from winning horses (both harness and thoroughbred) at race tracks in Illinois for routine drug screening (ELISA). The presence of BE was confirmed by GC/MS in 28 urine samples (0.14%). The concentration range for BE in harness horses (21 detections) was < 5-91 ng/mL, and for thoroughbred (seven detections) was 7-52 ng/mL. To date, the laboratory has not reported concentrations of BE that exceed the established threshold concentration of 150 ng/mL.