INTERLABORATORY COMPARISON OF QUANTITATIVE-DETERMINATIONS OF DRUG IN HAIR SAMPLES

Testing human hair for drugs of abuse is a relatively new technique wh ich requires control before being fully accepted in Justice applicatio ns. A consensus procedure was recently proposed to the four French Lab oratories performing hair analysis for opiates and cocaine. Results of two independent controls have shown that the laboratories have perfor med very well quantitatively, using the recommended method. In order t o compare these results with those obtained by other procedures, one s ample was sent to 15 laboratories concerned with the analysis of human hair for drugs of abuse in Germany, Italy, Spain, and United States. Results from this study have indicated that the French recommended met hod is in accordance with the general procedures.