In 1998 non-fatal accident cases, blood, urine, saliva and sweat were systematically collected from 13-57 year-old drivers (82% male) and tested for pharmaceuticals and drugs of abuse by hyphenated chromatographic methods (LC/DAD, GC/MS and LC/MS). The main points of the results are: (1) Blood alcohol was positive in 27 cases (13.6%), ranging from 0.11 to 3.19 g/l (mean: 1.49 g/l), being> 0.5 g/l in 21 cases; (2) Cannabis is the most involved illicit drug (9.6% of the cases). Its formal pharmacological effect can only be documented by testing blood, using GC/MS; (3) Even in hospital, urine collection is difficult. In 16% of the cases, this fluid was missing; (4) Parent compounds are excreted in both saliva and sweat. Therefore, on-site devices, devoted to urine and metabolites, are inapplicable; and (5) Concentrations in sweat and saliva are very low, particularly for benzodiazepines and cannabis. There is also a risk of external contamination for sweat.
Abstract