Aim: THC-COOH is the major metabolite of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol commonly tested in urine to determine cannabis intake. In this study, a method based on dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction was developed for testing THC-COOH in urine. Materials & methods: Hydrolyzed urine specimens were extracted via dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction with acetonitrile (disperser solvent) and chloroform (extraction solvent). Derivatization was performed with N,O-Bis(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide with 1% trichloro(chloromethyl)silane. Analysis was performed by GC–MS/MS. Results: The method showed acceptable linearity (5–500 ng/ml), imprecision (<10.5%) and bias (<4.9%). Limits of detection and quantitation were 1 and 5 ng/ml, respectively. Twenty-four authentic samples were analyzed, with 22 samples being positive for THC-COOH. Conclusion: The proposed method is more environmentally friendly and provided good sensitivity, selectivity and reproducibility.
Green analytical toxicology: Dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction applied to the analysis of THC-COOH in urine by GC–MS/MS.
Keywords:
- cannabinoids
- cannabis
- clinical toxicology
- dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction
- forensic toxicology
- GC–MS/MS
- green analytical toxicology
- THC-COOH