Problems of Forensic Sciences 2008 Vol. 74 (LXXIV) 173-181
BENZYDAMINE (TANTUM) IN DRIVER’S BLOOD. ANALYTICAL AND EVALUATION PROBLEMS
Krzysztof TUTAJ, Grzegorz BUSZEWICZ, Roman MĄDRO
Chair and Department of Forensic Medicine, Medical University, Lublin, Poland
Streszczenie
A case is presented in which benzydamine, recommended on the Internet as a “recreational” agent, was determined in a blood sample taken from a driver suspected of driving under the influence of substances acting similarly to ethyl alcohol, in accordance with forensic requirements. It was determined by the high performance liquid chromatography-atmospheric pressure chemical ionisation-mass spectrometry method. A simple liquid-liquid extraction in alkaline reaction with application of ethyl acetate was used. A good linearity of benzydamine determination was obtained in the range 10–1000 ng·ml–1. Detection and quantification limits of, respectively, 3 ng·ml–1 and 10 ng·ml–1 were obtained. Tandem mass spectrometry (MS-MS) and the method of standard addition were used with the aim of differentiation between benzydamine and methadone. The benzydamine was disregarded by the judge in the trial, be cause it was not on the list of intoxicating and psychotropic substances. However, this com pound has similar effects to alcohol and hallucinogenic specimens when it is orally consumed. Nevertheless, the driver was convicted, as 11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC-COOH) at a concentration of 66 ng·ml–1 was determined in his blood.
Słowa kluczowe
Benzydamine; Blood; HPLC-APCI-MS.