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Forensic Toxicology
Published in: Forensic Toxicology 1/2015

01-01-2015 | Review Article

Nail analysis for the detection of drugs of abuse and pharmaceuticals: a review

Authors: Delphine Cappelle, Michel Yegles, Hugo Neels, Alexander L. N. van Nuijs, Mireille De Doncker, Kristof Maudens, Adrian Covaci, Cleo L. Crunelle

Published in: Forensic Toxicology | Issue 1/2015

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Abstract

Nails can stably accumulate substances for long periods of time, thus providing retrospective information regarding drugs of abuse and pharmaceutical use. Nails have several advantages over the conventional matrices, such as blood and urine, including a longer detection window (months to years), non-invasive sample collection, and easy storage and transport. These aspects make nails a very interesting matrix for forensic and clinical toxicology. Because of the low concentrations of drugs of abuse and pharmaceuticals present in nails and the complexity of the keratinized matrix, analytical methods need to be more sensitive, and sample preparation is crucial. This review summarizes the literature regarding the detection and quantification of drugs of abuse and pharmaceuticals in nails, as well as the employed pre-analytical and analytical techniques. Additionally, the applications of nail analysis are reviewed. Finally, an overview of the challenges of nail analysis is provided, and guidelines for future research are proposed.
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Metadata
Title
Nail analysis for the detection of drugs of abuse and pharmaceuticals: a review
Authors
Delphine Cappelle
Michel Yegles
Hugo Neels
Alexander L. N. van Nuijs
Mireille De Doncker
Kristof Maudens
Adrian Covaci
Cleo L. Crunelle
Publication date
01-01-2015
Publisher
Springer Japan
Published in
Forensic Toxicology / Issue 1/2015
Print ISSN: 1860-8965
Electronic ISSN: 1860-8973
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11419-014-0258-1

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