Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometry: A Rapid Technique for Forensic Analyses

The need for a rapid and accurate method for drug analysis has increased substantially in this country over the past few years. This has been due in large part to the rise in drug abuse and overdose cases now being handled by toxicologists and analytical chemists. In an effort to meet this need, recent applications of the gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer (GC/MS) to drug and drug metabolite analysis has been successfully accomplished [1,2]. This application has recently been enhanced by the development of a new technique—chemical ionization (CI). The CI technique provides simpler spectra with increased sensitivity, while allowing the optional deletion of the gas chromatograph.