Using LC/MS/MS for toxicology at AIT Laboratories

When the toxicology market starts changing, how do forensic professionals keep up? According to Tim Dahn, they keep moving or they find themselves left in the dust.

As the shift from traditional gas chromatography-mass spectrometry technology to the emerging LC/MS solutions for toxicology testing began, Tim Dahn, technical director of American Institute of Toxicology (AIT Laboratories) was forced to come up with a way to stay abreast of the new technology.

"Interest in LC/MS in the toxicology market has exploded in the last 12 months," Dahn said. "Standing still means you're going to get passed."

In the spring of 2006, AIT Labs teamed with Applied Biosystems for an LC/MS solution. By implementing the 3200 Q TRAP LC/MS/MS system, AIT Labs says it realized cost savings and has managed to reduce the amount of time it takes to do sample extraction in toxicology testing.

On a urine opiate assay, the lab has already seen $25,000 in savings. In addition, the time for sample extraction has gone from several hours to only 40 minutes.

Dahn said the Applied Biosystems/MDS SCIEX solution – which he says has increased sensitivity – allowed him to get better data out of the assays, which is something the company liked. This sensitivity is of high value to AIT Labs, which provides toxicology services for the forensic science industry, hospitals, medical examiners, coroners, employers, attorneys, courts of law and government agencies.

By eliminating tedious extractions and improving data quality with the 3200 Q TRAP, AIT Labs is increasing the productivity of its chemists.

"We can now have our chemists do more chemistry work, as opposed to more grunt work," Dahn said. “The system allows the flexibility of adding assays over time."

The lab runs the 3200 system for 23 out of every 24 hours and has already done more than 20,000 injections on the system, and has very little down time.

"The 3200 Q TRAP is one of the simplest LC/MS instruments I have ever had as far as maintenance," said Dahn.

Applied Biosystems' Global Services provided installation, enabling AIT Labs to install the system in nine days.

Dahn first became aware of the LC/MS/MS benefits for toxicology after reading about it in a trade publication in the fall of 2005. That was the first clue that the technological shift was coming and that he’d have to be ready to change with it.

Dahn said the company expects to recoup the costs for the system within a year.