Takayama N.^*, Tanaka S.^*, Hayakawa K.^**

^* Forensic Science Laboratory, Ishikawa Prefectural Police Headquarters.: 2-1-1 Hirosaka, Kanazawa, Japan
^** Department of Hygienic Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kanazawa University: 13-1 Takaramachi, Kanazawa, Japan

Methamphetamine (MA) and its metabolite amphetamine (AP) can be detected in urine for about 10 days after its use. However, these compounds are detectable in hair even after several years using GC/MS. A disadvantage of this method is that it requires 30-50 hairs. In this study, an HPLC method with chemiluminescence detection for determining MA and AP in a single hair is presented.
Experimental. Hair samples were obtained from 42 MA users. Organic compounds were extracted from a single hair with a solution of methanol and hydrochloric acid, evaporated to dryness, dansylated, and injected in an HPLC with chemiluminescence detection. Bis(2,4,6-trichlorophenyl)oxalate and hydrogen peroxide were used as post column reagents.
Results. In 4 hair samples, neither MA nor AP was detected. In 8 hair samples, only MA was detected. In 30 hair samples, both MA and AP were detected. In 6 of the MA users, whose hair samples contained both MA and AP, the analyses of urine samples were negatives for those compounds.
Conclusions. The present method can be performed on a single hair so that procurement of samples and subject willingness to provide samples are facilitated.