Portable sensor can accurately detect synthetic cannabinoids in electronic cigarettes and biological samples

Although electronic cigarettes do not contain illegal substances, the fluid can cause serious health problems. Often, the concentration of nicotine in these products is several times higher than in conventional cigarettes, promoting rapid addiction. In addition, in countries such as Brazil, which have banned electronic cigarettes, it is observed that the products offered to users are not undergoing any quality control. A resolution by the Brazilian Regulatory Health Organization (ANVISA) prohibits the construction, import, sale, distribution, storage, transportation and advertising of electronic smoking devices.

Some of these liquids contain up to 100 times more nicotine than a regular cigarette, whose legal maximum threshold is 1mm of nicotine per cigarette. In addition, additives such as vitamin E acetate have been found in liquids, which have caused deaths and permanent pulmonary damage to users in the United States. “

Luciano Aranntes, Researcher and Member of the Management Committee of the National Institute of Science and Technology of Brazilia (INCT-SP)

The scenario is even more about examining the illegal use of synthetic cannabinoids on these devices. These substances are created in laboratories to mimic the effects of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive ingredient found in Hemp sativaor marijuana. However, synthetic cannabinoids are much more powerful and can cause neurological effects such as seizures, psychotic episodes and even an overdose death.

“What we see is a chemical breed. Illegal groups produce drugs with ever stronger structures, requiring minimal doses to achieve the desired result, as there is no warning or warning, users consume without knowing what they swallow,” Arandes warns.

To tackle the problem, Brazilian researchers, in collaboration with international colleagues, have developed a portable sensor that can accurately detect synthetic cannabinoids in electronic cigarettes and organic fluids, such as saliva. The device is described in an article published in the magazine Talda.

“We have developed an electrochemical method that identifies different synthetic cannabinoid molecules with high selectivity and sensitivity.

The device uses an electrode of diamond with the boron manufactured in collaboration with a team from the University of Technology in Bratislava, Slovakia. “It’s a simple system: The electrode is connected to a portable potentiotate, which can be connected to a mobile phone via the USB-C port or even through a bluetooth wireless connection.

“This sensor represents an important innovation in the field of mobile devices as it combines the portability of printed sensors with the high stability of boron diamonds, which can be reused countless moments,” says Wallans Torres Pio Dos Santos, a professor at the Federal Mucuri, in Brilian State of Minasisis and Cocerinora of the Minasiser and Minasishis and Minasishis and Minasishis and Minasishis and Cocerinora of the Minasiser and Minasiser and Minasiser and Cocerinora of Minasishaisis and at Minasiser and Coordinora And in the Minasiser and Coordinora of the Minasiser.

The sensor was tested with two of the most common and dangerous synthetic cannabinoids, AB-Chminaca and MDMB-4en-Pinaca. It showed the ability to detect concentrations as low as 0.2 µm, even in the presence of high levels of nicotine and other interference. In chemistry, MM (micromolene) is a unit of measure to concentrate a substance in a solution. An MM is equal to one million one mole per liter.

“The great advantage of our device is its selectivity, even with the complexity of the samples. We can only focus on substances of interest. It is like entering a dark room and only illuminating the point we want to observe,” Santos compares.

In addition to its use as a sorting tool by the forensic police, the device can be used in public health to provide urgent care to people who are over -doses or other complications, as well as for initiatives to reduce preventive damage. To this end, the research team works with “Baco Project: Toxicology and Toxicological Analysis as sources of drug policy information”. “The purpose of this project is to evaluate the use of new psychoactive substances in places and festivals, analyzing the examples of the oral fluid. Our collaboration with Baco researchers aims to extend the original goal of the project to allow not only saliva to analyze but also the immediate control of the substances.”

“These synthetic cannabinoids are constantly changing. New variants are constantly emerging and many of them are extremely strong and dangerous. It is to develop technologies that can be applied in practice.

“Our research shows that 63% of users do not know what they consume. Many believe that they use a familiar medicine, but in reality they can use a much stronger substance, identifying the substance on the spot, the sensor gives users the opportunity to make a documented decision.

The adaptability of the method is another force highlighted by researchers. “We have already developed sensors for other categories of substances, such as LSD and synthetic analogs, seats and phenylamins. We also work to integrate color reagents into the sensors to facilitate the visual interpretation of the results,” Arandes explains.

FAPESP supports the project through research grants administered to José Luiz Da Costa at the Campinas State University (Unicamp) in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil, who is a toxicology expert and a team’s associate. Part of the analysis was done in collaboration with his workshop, using actual saliva samples collected in environments where the products are used.

“The samples of saliva used in the study were collected as part of the Baco project, developed at UNICAMP in collaboration with the Ministry of Justice and Public Security [MJSP]. This work, in turn, is a variant of the research “The toxicology of new psychoactive substances (NPS): Epidemiology of consumption through the analysis of hair samples and oral fluid”, also supported by FAPESP, in which we conducted the first epidemiological research in Brazil in NPS. Based on the results of this research, the MJSP decided to support and expand the study, allowing a much larger number of samples to be collected, from 500 samples to the original project to 2,500 in the current. This has allowed us to form new partnerships, including the team of Professor Wallans, “says Costa.

“The goal is to get science where it can have a direct impact. Experts, doctors and health professionals need accessible, fast and reliable tools to meet the challenges that new medicines set.