RAPID AND HIGHLY SELECTIVE GC MS/MS DETECTION OF HEROIN AND ITS METABOLITES IN HAIR/

A direct treatment of methanol-washed hair with a silylating solution is proposed to extract heroin, O-6-monoacetylmorphine, morphine, acety lcodeine, and codeine, obtaining the simultaneous derivatization of th e hydroxylated metabolites and reducing potential sample contamination . Analysis is performed by capillary gas chromatography-tandem mass sp ectrometry (GC/MS/MS) using multiple selected reaction monitoring. Owi ng to the selectivity and sensitivity of the GC/MS/MS analysis, and to the extremely simple treatment of the sample, the method fulfils the requirements of both clinical and forensic diagnosis of heroin use.