Quantitative GC-FID analysis of heroin for seized drugs

Aim: Heroin is a semi-synthetic opioid, which is widely abused due to its euphoric effects.It is responsible for numerous deaths or diseases each year throughout the world.The goal of this work was to validate and establish a simple and reliable GC-FID method for quantitative analysis of heroin in seized drug samples in accordance with the predicted sample matrix.Material and Method: Detection parameters and chromatographic conditions were optimized in order to achieve an advanced method.Separation was accomplished on a HP-5 column (30 m-0.32 nm ID-0.25 μm) utilizing n-tetracosane as an internal standard at the concentration of 0.25 mg/mL in chloroform/methanol (1:1) mixture.Method validation was processed by means of specificity, linearity, accuracy, precision, range, quantitation limit and detection limit.Results: Method provided a great linearity with correlation coefficients (r 2 =0.9994) for heroin.The limit of detection and limit of quantification values of GC-FID method for heroin analysis were 2.20 µg/mL and 7.33 µg/mL, respectively while the limit of linearity was 1000 µg/mL.Mean recovery value obtained from spike study was 99.89%, and relative error calculated after CRM analysis was equal to 1.80%, indicating that the method was accurate.Discussion: Inter-day stability of the instrument was demonstrated by use of the control chart.The method represented is comparatively simple, fast, precise, and pertinent for clandestine drug analysis in toxicological, pharmaceutical, and forensic laboratories.