SCREENING FOR HEROIN - UNANTICIPATED ANALYTICAL RESULTS ASSOCIATED WITH AN AUTOMATED MORPHINE ANALYZER

• NCJ Number: 14478
• Journal: Journal of Police Science and Administration Volume: 2 Issue: 2 Dated: (JUNE 1974) Pages: 138-144
• Author(s): D SOHN; J SIMON; M A HANNA; V MELKONIAN; G Z GHALI; R A TOLBA
• Date Published: 1974
• Length: 7 pages
• Corporate Author: Northwestern University
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

AT LEAST ONE AUTOMATED MORPHINE ANALYZER (AMA) MAY YIELD SO MANY FALSE-POSITIVES THAT IT SHOULD BE USED ONLY FOR THE ELIMINATION OF DEFINITE NEGATIVES.

Abstract

THE AUTOMATED FLOUROMETRIC ANALYZERS THAT WERE TESTED UTILIZED THE CONVERSION BY POTASSIUM FERRICYANIDE OF 'FREE' (NON-GLUCORINIDE-CONJUGATED) MORPHINE TO ITS HIGHLY FLOURESCENT DIMER PSEUDOMORPHINE. COMPARISONS BETWEEN THE TWO IDENTICAL AMA'S SHOW THAT AS BACKGROUND FLOURESCENCE IS CHANGED TOWARDS INCREASING FLOURESCENCE, POSITIVE RESULTS WITH ONE FLOUROMETER NEED NOT BE POSITIVE WITH THE OTHER. FURTHERMORE, INTERCHANGING PRIMARY FILTERS WITHIN THE FLOUROMETERS MAY DRASTICALLY ALTER THE RESULTS.