Determination of cocaine in abuser hairs by CE: monitoring compliance to a detoxification program

Background: Segmental hair analysis was performed to verify the cocaine withdrawal and compliance to the therapy of four cocaine abusers that were following a drug detoxification program. Results/methodology: Cocaine and its major metabolite, benzoylecgonine, were preconcentrated and determined by in-line SPE and CE with prior isolation of the analytes from the hair matrix by an overnight acidic incubation procedure. The LODs obtained for hair samples were 0.02 ng/mg for cocaine and 0.1 ng/mg for benzoylecgonine. Conclusion: Our results showed that the established method, in conjunction with a segmental hair analysis, is suitable for determining drug abuse histories, being very useful in forensic toxicological laboratories as well as in rehabilitation and addiction treatment programs.