Detection and quantification of low levels of benzoylecgonine in equine urine

Abstract Cocaine (COC) is a highly addictive plant alkaloid expressing strong psychostimulatory effect. It has no medical use in equine veterinary practice. The contamination of the environment with cocaine such as its presence on the US paper currency has been reported few times. There are anecdota...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Forensic science international 2008-05, Vol.177 (1), p.e21-e24
Main Authors: Luckie, Connie, Whitney, Carolyn, Benoit, Marc, Taddei, Lisa, Sukta, Andre, Peterson, Joshua, Schwope, David, Gaensslen, R.E, Negrusz, Adam
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Cocaine
Cocaine - analogs & derivatives
Cocaine - urine
Dopamine Uptake Inhibitors - urine
Drug dosages
Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
Equine testing
Fines & penalties
Forensic sciences
Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry
GC/MS
Horse racing
Horses - urine
Laboratories
Pathology
Quality control
Racetracks
Substance Abuse Detection - veterinary
Urine
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Summary:Abstract Cocaine (COC) is a highly addictive plant alkaloid expressing strong psychostimulatory effect. It has no medical use in equine veterinary practice. The contamination of the environment with cocaine such as its presence on the US paper currency has been reported few times. There are anecdotal reports of low benzoylecgonine (BE) concentrations (usually much less than 100 ng/mL) being found in urine of race horses. In order to protect horsemen against harsh penalties associated with the presence of trace amounts of BE in horse urine as a result of environmental contamination, in February 2005 the Illinois Racing Board issued new medication rules that established the threshold level of 150 ng/mL for BE in equine urine. The penalties associated with this rule provide for increasing fines ($250, $500, $1000) with successive positive reports against a trainer for levels of BE below 150 ng/mL. A total of 19,315 urine samples were collected over the 2-year period of time from winning horses (both harness and thoroughbred) at race tracks in Illinois for routine drug screening (ELISA). The presence of BE was confirmed by GC/MS in 28 urine samples (0.14%). The concentration range for BE in harness horses (21 detections) was
ISSN:0379-0738
1872-6283
DOI:10.1016/j.forsciint.2007.08.003