Identification and quantitative determination of LSD by fluorescence: new data.

ABSTRACT

Tests for the detection of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) are not always specific; to cope with this problem the authors have developed a fluorimetric apparatus and technique for the detection and identification of LSD in samples seized from illicit traffic in drugs. The fluorimeter is not electronic and is simple to make and use, inexpensive, easy to handle and suitable for field analyses. With the new, highly sensitive and selective method of synchronous excitation spectrofluorimetry, a toxicological analytical laboratory can confirm measurements made in the field and make an immediate determination of the quantity of LSD in the samples seized. The agreement between results obtained using differential fluorimetry or synchronous spectrofluorimetry and chromatographic techniques was found to be excellent. Quantitative analysis is very useful because the amount of LSD per "dose" can vary, from one batch to another, from a few tenths of a microgram to several hundred micrograms.