In this video we are talking about the confirmation of Cocaine
and its urinary metabolites using an EXCLUSIVE KIT for this specific analysis
and using a Gas Chromatograph coupled with a Mass Detector.
Cocaine is a substance of psychostimulant abuse, and it is an alkaloid that is obtained
from coca leaves by extraction with calcium hydroxide or ammonia.
Inside the body, cocaine is rapidly hydrolyzed into Benzoylecgonine.
This metabolite is excreted in urine and its determination proves the intake
of cocaine by subjects who have used it.
Screening methods measure, by means of an antigen-antibody reaction, Benzoylecgonine.
Since these methods can give false positives for the presence of foreign substances
that may interfere with the antigen-antibody reaction,
CONFIRMATION ANALYSIS is always needed,
particularly as screening tests have no medical-legal value.
So if the screening analysis is positive with a cut off = 300 ng/ml,
the sample must be submitted for confirmation analysis, using either
Gaseous or Liquid Chromatographic Techniques,
coupled with a Mass Detector.
In addition, the confirmatory test allows the determination
of the Cocaethylene metabolite.
