Development of a high-resolution paper-spray mass spectrometry method using street drugs for the early detection of emerging drugs in the unregulated supply

This article was originally published as: Miskulin, A., Wallace, B., Hore, D.K., & Gill, C. (2025). Development of a high-resolution paper-spray mass spectrometry method using street drugs for the early detection of emerging drugs in the unregulated supply. Analyst, 150(9), 1872-1883. https://doi.org/10.1039/d5an00086f ; Adulteration of the unregulated opioid supply has contributed to increasing numbers of overdose deaths in North America. Harm-reduction drug checking has emerged as a strategy to address increasing adulteration rates by providing information about sample composition to people who use drugs. While paper-spray mass spectrometry is capable of trace detection for drug checking, the presence of newly emerging substances often goes undetected if not included in the targeted analysis method. High-resolution mass spectrometry has not been widely used in drug-checking efforts to date, but it has advanced capabilities to facilitate the detection of newly emerging substances. We present a high-resolution paper-spray mass spectrometry method developed for the detection of newly emerging compounds in the street-drug supply. The method was used to analyze a selection of opioid samples received at a drug-checking service in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Using this approach, newly emerging adulterants, precursors and byproducts were identified in the local street-drug supply. ; This project was supported by a New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRFE-2022-00886), NSERC Discovery Grant (RGPIN-2021-02981), and a Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI) John R. Evans Leaders Fund (40274). Additional support and contributions were made by the Vancouver Foundation (F0120-5607), BC Ministry of Health, and the Island Health Authority.