Direct Screening of Cocaine on Money Note Surfaces by OPSI/CMS Analysis

Cocaine is a globally used illicit drug and its widespread use remains a significant public health concern. It is known that US paper currency in general circulation is contaminated with cocaine. There are several possible explanations for this: contamination due to handling during drug deals, the use of rolled up bills for snorting or inhalation, and cross contamination between bills in circulation. The analytical methods for cocaine analysis on paper currency are normally HPLC/UV, GC/MS or LC-MS/MS, however, all of these methods require significant sample preparation before analysis.

In this poster, a quick and direct screening method for detection of cocaine on paper currency is introduced using the Touch Express Open Port Sampling Interface (OPSI) on the Advion expression® CMS.

This poster was presented at ASMS 2021 in Philadelphia, PA, USA.