Detection of fentanyl and derivatives using a lateral flow immunoassay

Abstract

Abstract Overdoses due to the adulteration of the illegal opioid drug supply with synthetic opioids (i.e. fentanyl and fentanyl derivatives) continue to be a serious problem in the United States. The presence of these substances in this supply not only presents a risk to users, but also first responders. Synthetic opioids have a high toxicity and this toxicity leads to a high risk of overdose or accidental exposure when they are included in the illegal opioid supply. Due to this toxicity, first responders and forensic scientists have a need for rapid, accurate, and low-cost detection methods. In this study, we examined the commercially available fentanyl-directed lateral flow immunoassay (LFI) produced by BTNX, Inc. (Markham, ON Canada) Several aspects of opioid detection performance were examined: limits of detection (LODs) and sensitivity for fentanyl and fentanyl derivatives in liquid and from dried surface sampled fentanyl, effectiveness of detection from complex illicit street drug samples, as well as the ability of these LFIs to determine fentanyl presence from in vivo urine from rabbits and human urine collected from postmortem cases. The results of this study suggest that fentanyl-directed LFIs have the potential to be used by both first responders and forensic scientists to determine the presence of synthetic opioids in the field.