Rapid, unambiguous detection and identification of drugs and related compounds in numerous samples is essential for forensic drug screening. The need to analyse a given sample for an increasing number of toxicologically relevant target compounds — often hundreds of substances — demands state-of-the-art MS technologies.
Working with NZRLS, New Zealand's equine and canine testing laboratory, Bruker developed a robust screening tool using ESI-TOF systems and Target Analysis software, including a unique and extensive database of drugs of abuse and their metabolites. The approach has since been adopted in key racing markets including the UAE and Korea, and applied across a broad range of screening scenarios including human drugs-of-abuse testing.
ToxScreener is an accurate-mass, high-dynamic-range forensic toxicology solution for Bruker QTOF systems. Using broadband CID (bbCID) acquisition, it provides a rapid and reliable way to confidently screen for hundreds or thousands of known or previously unknown compounds of forensic relevance, delivering defensible data. Its bbCID accurate-mass forensic database was developed with toxicologists at the universities of Freiburg (Germany) and Helsinki (Finland).
“We have applied the bbCID concept using Bruker LC-TOF-MS for general forensic drug screening in urine since 2010. In 2013 we switched to the newest UHPLC-UHR-QTOF technology to attain enhanced sensitivity for drugs-of-abuse and designer-drug forensic screening, covering critical low-concentration compounds like THC acid, buprenorphine, LSD and synthetic cannabinoids.”