Fully automated determination of cannabinoids in hair samples using headspace solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

This paper describes a fully automated procedure using alkaline hydrolysis and headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) followed by on-fiber derivatization and gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric (GC-MS) detection of cannabinoids in human hair samples. Ten milligrams of hair was washed with deionized water, petroleum ether, and dichloromethane. After the addition of deuterated internal standards the sample was hydrolyzed with sodium hydroxide and directly submitted to HS-SPME. After absorption of analytes for an on-fiber derivatization procedure the fiber was directly placed into the headspace of a second vial containing N-methyl-N-trimethylsilyl-trifluoroacetamide (MSTFA) before GC-MS analysis. The limit f detection was 0.05 ng/mg for Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), 0.08 ng/mg for cannabidiol (CBD), and 0.14 ng/mg for cannabinol (CBN). Absolute recoveries were in the range between 0.3 and 7.5%. Linearity was proved over a range from 0.1 to 20 ng/mg with coefficients of correlation from 0.998 to 0.999. Validation of the whole procedure revealed excellent results. In comparison with conventional methods of hair analysis this automated HS-SPME-GC-MS procedure is substantially faster. It is easy to perform without use of solvents and with minimal sample quantities, but with the same degree of sensitivity and reproducibility. The applicability was demonstrated by the analysis of 25 hair samples from several forensic cases. The following concentration ranges were determined: THC 0.29-2.20 (mean 1.7) ng/mg, CBN 0.55-4.54 (mean 1.2) ng/mg, and CBD 0.53-18.36 (mean 1.3) ng/mg. 11-nor-Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid could not be detected with this method. © Oxford University Press 2001.