Analysis of Benzoylecgonine in Dried Blood Spots by ...

Published: Journal of Analytical Toxicology, Volume 20, Number 3, May/June 1996, pp. 179-184.

Analysis of Benzoylecgonine in Dried Blood Spots by Liquid Chromatography– Atmospheric Pressure Chemical Ionization Tandem Mass Spectrometry
Connie S. Sosnoff, Qinghong Ann, John T. Bernert, Jr., Mary K. Powell, Barbara B. Miller, L. Omar Henderson, W. Harry Hannon, Paul Fernhoff, and Eric J. Sampson

Residual samples from blood spots (i.e., whole blood spotted onto filter paper) are a useful source for epidemiological screening studies involving newborns. However, the small volume of blood available from residual blood spots complicates the assay. A method for analyzing benzoylecgonine (BZE; the primary metabolite of cocaine) in blood spots, in which the blood spot is eluted with aqueous ammonium acetate–methanol containing N-methyl trideuterated-BZE as an internal standard, followed by high-performance liquid chromatography–atmospheric pressure chemical ionization tandem mass spectrometry using multiple reaction monitoring, has been developed. This approach provides a rapid, direct, sensitive (limit of detection, approximately 2 ng/mL, based on a 12-µL sample size), and highly specific means of determining BZE concentrations in blood spots. We have applied this method for confirmatory analyses in a large epidemiological study of the prevalence of cocaine use during late pregnancy.

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