General Unknown Screening by Ion Trap LC/MS/MS
Abstract
During the investigation of aviation accidents, postmortem specimens from accident victims are submitted to the Federal Aviation Administration's Civil Aerospace Medical Institute (CAMI) for toxicological analysis. The first, and perhaps most important, step in the analysis process is the initial screening of biological specimens for illicit, medically prescribed, and over-the-counter compounds that may be present and could have been the cause of the accident. Currently, our General Unknown Screening (GUS) procedure involves both gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS), liquid chromatography/diode array detection (LC/DAD) and fluorescence detection techniques. Both techniques have inherent limitations that prevent the detection of certain types of compounds. LC/DAD, however, is more limited due to poor sensitivity and specificity. Therefore, our laboratory developed and validated an LC/MS/MS procedure that provides far superior sensitivity and specificity to that of LC/DAD. The combination of GC/MS with LC/MS/MS will allow for the detection of more compounds at lower concentrations than our current techniques.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 2010
- Accession Number
- ADA530985
Entities
People
- Robert D. Johnson
Organizations
- Federal Aviation Administration