Hair analysis in toxicology
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Marion Villain
, Vincent Cirimele and Pascal Kintz
Abstract
Morphological, serological and chemical examination of human hair for medical purposes was initiated some decades ago. In the 1960s and 1970s, hair analysis was used to evaluate exposure to toxic heavy metals. At this time, examination of hair for organic substances, especially drugs, was not possible because analytical methods were not sensitive enough. Since the early 1980s, the development of highly sensitive and specific assay methods such as radioimmunoassay or gas chromatography/mass spectrometry has permitted the analysis of organic substances trapped in hair. This, theoretically, offered the possibility of revealing an individual’s recent history of drug exposure beginning at sampling day and dating back over a period of weeks or months. The present review aims to summarise the various applications that have been published.
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© Walter de Gruyter
Articles in the same Issue
- Therapeutic drug monitoring in clinical toxicology: current strategies, thoughts and views on the future
- Therapeutic monitoring of immunosuppressant drugs. Where are we?
- Therapeutic drug monitoring of non-tricyclic antidepressant drugs
- The relevance of therapeutic drug monitoring in plasma and erythrocytes in anti-cancer drug treatment
- Therapeutic drug monitoring of old and newer anti-epileptic drugs
- Pharmacogenomic genotyping methodologies
- Hair analysis in toxicology
- Oral fluid as a diagnostic tool
- Position of immunological techniques in screening in clinical toxicology
- Position of chromatographic techniques in screening for detection of drugs or poisons in clinical and forensic toxicology and/or doping control
- Systematic toxicological analysis by high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection (HPLC-DAD)
- Analysis of γ-hydroxybutyric acid, DL-lactic acid, glycolic acid, ethylene glycol and other glycols in body fluids by a direct injection gas chromatography-mass spectrometry assay for wide use
Articles in the same Issue
- Therapeutic drug monitoring in clinical toxicology: current strategies, thoughts and views on the future
- Therapeutic monitoring of immunosuppressant drugs. Where are we?
- Therapeutic drug monitoring of non-tricyclic antidepressant drugs
- The relevance of therapeutic drug monitoring in plasma and erythrocytes in anti-cancer drug treatment
- Therapeutic drug monitoring of old and newer anti-epileptic drugs
- Pharmacogenomic genotyping methodologies
- Hair analysis in toxicology
- Oral fluid as a diagnostic tool
- Position of immunological techniques in screening in clinical toxicology
- Position of chromatographic techniques in screening for detection of drugs or poisons in clinical and forensic toxicology and/or doping control
- Systematic toxicological analysis by high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection (HPLC-DAD)
- Analysis of γ-hydroxybutyric acid, DL-lactic acid, glycolic acid, ethylene glycol and other glycols in body fluids by a direct injection gas chromatography-mass spectrometry assay for wide use