Detection of mescaline in human hair samples by UPLC-MS/MS: Application to 19 authentic forensic cases
Journal of Chromatography B March 2, 2022 Shuo Yang, Yan Shi, Zhuonan Chen et al. 13 citations
A rapid and sensitive liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method was developed to detect and measure mescaline in hair. The method showed good linearity from 10 to 1000 pg/mg, with a detection limit of 3 pg/mg and quantification limit of 10 pg/mg. Total analysis time was 5 minutes. The method was applied to 19 real forensic cases, finding mescaline concentrations in hair ranging from 10 to 784 pg/mg. Mescaline, a psychedelic alkaloid from the peyote cactus, is a class I psychotropic drug in China, and this method is suitable for large-scale surveillance of mescaline abuse in forensic toxicology.