Can X-Ray Powder Diffraction Be a Suitable Forensic Method for Illicit Drug Identification?

ABSTRACT: New psychoactive substances (NPSs) are associated with a significant number of intoxications. With the number of readily available forms of these drugs rising every year, there are even risks for the general public. Consequently, there is a high demand for methods sufficiently sensitive to detect NPSs in samples found at the crime scene. Infrared (IR) and Raman spectroscopies are commonly used for such detection, but they have limitations; for example, fluorescence in Raman can overlay the signal and when the sample is a mixture sometimes neither Raman nor IR is able to identify the compounds. Here, we investigate the potential of X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) to analyse samples seized on the black market. A series of psychoactive substances (heroin, cocaine, mephedrone, ephylone, butylo

SUBMITTER: Jurasek B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7325198 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature