Development of a rapid in-situ analysis method using sheath-flow probe electrospray ionisation-mass spectrometry (sfPESI-MS) for the direct identification of cocaine metabolites in dried blood spots.

A rapid (< 20 seconds) quantitative method for the direct analysis of cocaine metabolites from dried blood spots which requires no prior sample preparation was developed. While the LoD achieved for BZE (LoD: 0.29 μg/mL) was above the UK threshold limit of exposure for drug driving (0.05 μg/mL), the method may be suitable for use in identifying overdose in forensic analysis.