Disposable Face Masks for Noninvasive Drug Detection: A Proof-of-Concept Study with Cough Syrup Constituents

Current drug detection methods, such as blood and urine analysis, are often invasive and raise ethical and privacy concerns. This study demonstrates that breathing through typical polypropylene-based meltblown cloth face masks is an efficient and user-friendly method for collecting drugs from exhaled breath for analysis. By using codeine, ephedrine, guaifenesin, and chlorpheniramine found in cough syrup as model compounds, we found that these face masks achieved a collection efficiency exceeding 92% for the tested drugs. The analysis yielded pharmacokinetic parameters─such as half-life (t_1/2), time to maximum concentration (T_max), and detection window─that were comparable to those obtained through parallel urine analysis. Given the increasing demand for noninvasive drug detection methods due to the rising abuse of substances like marijuana and fentanyl, this method is expected to have broad applications in forensic analysis and drug development.