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Updated: May 19, 2026

Color Spot Test As a Presumptive Tool for the Rapid Detection of Synthetic Cathinones
Published on: February 5, 2018
Bath salts
1Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco General Hospital, 1001 Potrero Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94110, USA. Roy.Gerona@ucsf.edu
Abstract:
"Bath salts" has attracted young adults primarily due to its stimulatory and hallucinogenic effects akin to amphetamines and cocaine. Although other designer amines have been incorporated to newer generation "bath salts", synthetic cathinones remain to be their major component. This article discusses our current understanding of the chemistry and metabolism of synthetic cathinones. It also presents a comprehensive review of the most recent laboratory analyses done on this class of compounds in drug products and biological samples.
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