Meconium: a biological sample alternative for investigation of consumption of cocaine and nicotine during pregnancy employing the techniques of solid phase extraction and GC-MS

• Grant number: 12/18889-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: October 01, 2012
• End date: September 30, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry - Analytical Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Bruno Spinosa de Martinis
• Grantee: Eduardo Geraldo de Campos
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil

Abstract

In recent years there has been an increasing number of pregnant women who use drugs of abuse due to health consequences for them and also for the development of the child within and outside the uterus, leading to serious complications. Recently in the literature meconium (first excretion of newborns) has been introduced as biological matrix of choice for determination of intrauterine exposure to drugs of abuse due to the ease of collection, and the non-invasive detection window for identifying exposure fetus from the second trimester of pregnancy. This paper is intended to apply methodology solid phase extraction (SPE) for the detection of cocaine and nicotine in meconium. For identification of the analytes of interest will be used in meconium Gas Chromatography coupled to Mass Spectrometry (CG-MS), due to the sensitivity, specificity and reliability for the detection of these drugs. (AU)