ABSTRACT
Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy in combination with microscopy has been used as a unique method of analysis for drugs of abuse in hair. An FTIR drug hair analysis requires that a reference spectrum of a drug-free hair from a healthy volunteer be obtained for spectral subtraction. Drug distribution can be visualized by display of the spectral map of various drug frequencies across a hair, analyzed by the FTIR microscopy technique. Sampling homogeneity was tested using a mass spectrometry method. This involved viewing the hair under a dissection microscope and cutting each hair at the medulla nonmedulla interchange. The presence of hydrophobic drugs, cocaine and 6-monoacetyl morphine, tend to follow the visible observation of medulla presence in the analyzed section of hair. A postulate can be developed that hydrophobic drugs bind tightly to the medulla of the hair, and hydrophilic drugs are broadly distributed through the cortex of the hair.
