Technical note Screening determination of four amphetamine-type drugs in street-grade illegal tablets and urine samples by portable capillary electrophoresis with contactless conductivity detection Thi Anh Huong Nguyen a , Thi Ngoc Mai Pham a , Thi Thao Ta a , Xuan Truong Nguyen b , Thi Lien Nguyen a , Thi Hong Hao Le c , Israel Joel Koenka d , Jorge Sáiz e , Peter C. Hauser d , Thanh Duc Mai f,1 a Faculty of Chemistry, Department of Analytical Chemistry, Hanoi University of Science, Vietnam National University, 19 Le Thanh Tong, Hanoi, Viet Nam b Center of Drugs Expertise, Institute of Forensic Science, Ministry of Public Security, 99 Nguyen Tuan, Hanoi, Viet Nam c National Institute for Food Control (NIFC), 13 Phan Huy Chu, Hanoi, Viet Nam d Department of Chemistry, University of Basel, Spitalstrasse 51, 4056 Basel, Switzerland e University Institute of Research in Police Sciences (IUICP), University of Alcalá, Ctra. Madrid, Barcelona Km 33.6, 28871 Alcalá de Henares (Madrid), Spain f Centre for Environmental Technology and Sustainable Development (CETASD), Hanoi University of Science, Nguyen Trai Street 334, Hanoi, Viet Nam abstract article info Article history: Received 27 April 2015 Received in revised form 25 August 2015 Accepted 4 September 2015 Available online xxxx Keywords: Semi-automated portable instrument Capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection (C 4 D) Capillary electrophoresis (CE) Amphetamine-type (ATS) drugs Street-grade illegal tablets Urine samples A simple and inexpensive method for the identification of four substituted amphetamines, namely, 3,4- methylenedioxy methamphetamine (MDMA), methamphetamine (MA), 3,4-methylenedioxy amphetamine (MDA) and 3,4-methylenedioxy-N-ethylamphetamine (MDEA) was developed using an in-house constructed semi-automated portable capillary electrophoresis instrument (CE) with capacitively coupled contactless conduc- tivity detection (C 4 D). Arginine 10 mM adjusted to pH 4.5 with acetic acid was found to be the optimal background electrolyte for the CE-C 4 D determination of these compounds. The best detection limits achieved with and without a sample preconcentration process were 10 ppb and 500 ppb, respectively. Substituted amphetamines were found in different seized illicit club drug tablets and urine samples collected from different suspected users. Good agree- ment between results from CE-C 4 D and those with the confirmation method (GC-MS) was achieved, with correla- tion coefficients for the two pairs of data of more than 0.99. © 2015 The Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Amphetamine-type (ATS) drugs are central nervous system stimu- lants which can create excited sensation and feelings of pleasure [1]. Their serious side effects of hallucinations, psychosis and depression [2], together with possible intoxication and lethal consequence due to over- dosages, however, render their usage strictly regulated. According to the World Drug Report (2014) [3], ATS constitute the second most commonly used group of illicit substances worldwide and a quarter of the total ATS seizures were in East and South-East Asia. The expansion of their illegal production and illicit drug markets has raised a serious social problem as it could result in increased criminal activities. Of all ATS drugs, 3,4- methylenedioxy methamphetamine (MDMA) and methamphetamine (MA), whose street names are “ecstasy” and “meth,” respectively, are among the most frequently illegally produced, trafficked and consumed [3]. In Vietnam, ATS as club drugs for recreational purposes has been alert- ly abused and already surpassed opium as the second most widely used drug type [4]. According to the report by the Institute of Forensic Science (Vietnam), in addition to MDMA and MA, two other designer amphet- amines, namely, 3,4-methylenedioxy amphetamine (MDA, or “love” by its street name) and 3,4-methylenedioxy-N-ethylamphetamine (MDEA, or “eve” by its street name), have also been found in club drug seizures from time to time. These compounds have also been classified as entactogens with a high potential for abuse [5]. In forensic science, amphetamines are usually traced, quantified and confirmed with chromatographic techniques, i.e. gas chromatography (GC) and liquid chromatography (LC) coupled to mass spectrometry (MS) analyzers [6]. However, their high costs for sample analyses and instrumental maintenance as well as the requirement for skillful and ex- perienced operators render their employment unsuitable to many (decentralized) forensic centers in developing countries where only modest financial resources and limited expertise are available. In Vietnam, the seized samples are sent to the Center of Drugs Expertise, Science and Justice xxx (2015) xxx–xxx E-mail address: maithanhduc83@gmail.com (T.D. Mai). 1 Tel.: +33 651 37 79 49. SCIJUS-00550; No of Pages 6 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scijus.2015.09.001 1355-0306/© 2015 The Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Science and Justice journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/scijus Please cite this article as: T.A.H. Nguyen, et al., Screening determination of four amphetamine-type drugs in street-grade illegal tablets and urine samples by portable capillary ele..., Sci. Justice (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scijus.2015.09.001