ISSN: 0022-1198
CODEN: JFSCA
Published Online: 1 October 1983
Page Count: 12

Drugs and Driving: A Systematic Analytical Approach
Finkle, BS
Associate toxicologist, associate director, assistant toxicologist, and director, Center for Human Toxicologiy, University of Utah, UT

Crouch, DJ
Associate toxicologist, associate director, assistant toxicologist, and director, Center for Human Toxicologiy, University of Utah, UT

Chinn, DM
Associate toxicologist, associate director, assistant toxicologist, and director, Center for Human Toxicologiy, University of Utah, UT

Peat, MA
Associate toxicologist, associate director, assistant toxicologist, and director, Center for Human Toxicologiy, University of Utah, UT

(Received 5 January 1983; accepted 25 January 1983)

Abstract

To collect useful epidemiological data about drug involvement in highway safety, it is essential that sensitive and specific analytical procedures be used to establish the presence of and to determine the concentrations of drugs and metabolites in samples collected from drivers. This paper describes a comprehensive and systematic screening procedure requiring 6 mL of blood, which has been used for the analysis of samples collected from injured and fatally injured drivers. The procedure uses radioimmunoassay, gas chromatography with selective detectors, and high performance liquid chromatography. Drugs and metabolites presumptively identified are then confirmed primarily using gas chromatography$#x2014;chemical ionization mass spectrometry.

Keywords:
toxicology, screening procedures, traffic safety, epidemiology

Paper ID: JFS11603J
DOI: 10.1520/JFS11603J
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