VARIABILITY OF OPIATES CONCENTRATIONS IN HUMAN HAIR ACCORDING TO THEIR ANATOMICAL ORIGIN - HEAD, AXILLARY AND PUBIC REGIONS

The concentrations of morphine and codeine were investigated in hair f rom the head, axillary and pubic regions obtained from 20 fatal heroin cases. Hair preparation involves decontamination procedure in dichlor omethane at 37 degrees C for 15 min, solubilization in sodium hydroxyd e at 100 degrees C for 5 min, neutralization with hydrochloric acid an d centrifugation. After extraction in chloroform/isopropanol/n-heptane (50:17:33; v/v) at pH 9.2, drugs were derivatized with BSTFA + 1% TMC S and separated on a 12-m BP-5 capillary column. Quantification was do ne by GC/MS using selected ion monitoring. The highest morphine concen trations were found in pubic hair (0.80-41.34 ng/mg), followed by hair of the head (0.62-27.10 ng/mg), and axillary hair (0.40-24.20 ng/mg). Codeine was also detected in all samples, and the codeine/morphine ra tios ranged from 0.054 to 0.273. The differences observed in drug conc entration in the three kinds of hair are discussed in the light of the existing literature.