Optimal Extraction of Fentanyl VOCs for The Development of Canine Training Aid Mimics

Authors

Leann M. Forte, Florida International UniversityFollow

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Major/Program

Chemistry

First Advisor's Name

Kenneth G. Furton

First Advisor's Committee Title

committee chair

Second Advisor's Name

Lauryn DeGreeff

Second Advisor's Committee Title

committee member

Third Advisor's Name

DeEtta K Mills

Third Advisor's Committee Title

committee memeber

Fourth Advisor's Name

Anthony DeCaprio

Fourth Advisor's Committee Title

committee member

Fifth Advisor's Name

Francisco Fernandez Lima

Fifth Advisor's Committee Title

committee member

Keywords

Fentanyl, Canine, SPME

Date of Defense

3-27-2023

Abstract

Fentanyl is found to be 10 to 100 times more potent than morphine, which means a very small amount can cause an overdose. According to the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) and the Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2020 there was approximately 92,000 deaths caused by drug overdose with 56,000 of those deaths being attributed to the use of fentanyl or a fentanyl related material.¹ For this reason, it is imperative that law enforcement have ways to safely detect fentanyl both in field and in laboratory environments. One of the most effective ways of detecting narcotics in field is with the use of canines; however, currently there is no safe and reliable way to train canines to detect fentanyl. The first step in developing a safe method for canines to detect fentanyl is to determine what compound are present in the headspace of fentanyl that a canine could possibly associate with the odor of fentanyl. This project utilized solid phase microextraction gas-chromatography mass spectrometry (SPME-GC-MS) to collect and analyze the compounds that compose the vapor profile from reference grade fentanyl. This resulted in the detection and identification of nine compounds including heptane, styrene, benzaldehyde, aniline, benzyl alcohol, benzeneacetylaldehyde, N-phenylpropanamide (NPPA), N-phenethyl-4-pipeeridinone (NPP) and 1-pehethyl-4-propionyloxypiperidine, with NPPA being the most abundant compound.

The degradation of fentanyl was also investigated through a series of experiments using field-relevant environmental conditions, examining degradation due to exposure to oxidation, humidity, and heat. Based on the results, NPPA was found to be the most notable product of degradation in all testing environments. There was also a significant increase in styrene after fentanyl was initially subjected to the 40 °C environment for the first week, though this was followed by a decrease in styrene abundance in following weeks. With a deeper understanding of the fentanyl headspace now known it is possible to move into mimic development. A mimic is defined as a training aid that utilizes the headspace compounds to imitate the odor of target material. The results indicated that there was sufficient evidence to consider NPPA as the test odorant for the development of a novel training aid mimic for fentanyl. Following the choice of odorant, three mimic preparations were developed, and the shelf-life and active usage lifetime of the novel aids were determined. These results revealed the shelf-life of the mimic to be one month and an active usage lifetime of least 6 hours. Finally, canine olfactory detection testing was conducted on three mimic preparations determine the validity of NPPA as a training aid for fentanyl. Two groups of canines were utilized; Group 1 included canines previously trained to detect fentanyl using the actual material and Group 2 included operational drug detection canines without prior training with fentanyl. The results from the canine tests, show that most of the canines correctly detected the substance to which they were trained; however, the results showed a lack in positive alerts to any of the NPPA mimic preparations presented to the canines.

Identifier

FIDC011135

Previously Published In

Stephanie R. Vaughan, Lauryn E. DeGreeff, Leann Forte, Howard K. Holness, Kenneth G. Furton, Identification of volatile components in the headspace of pharmaceutical-grade fentanyl, Forensic Chemistry, Volume 24, 2021, 100331, ISSN 2468-1709, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forc.2021.100331.

Ashley C. Fulton, Leann Forte, Stephanie R. Vaughan, Howard K. Holness, Kenneth G. Furton, Lauryn E. DeGreeff, Investigation of volatile organic compounds from trace fentanyl powder via passive degradation, Forensic Chemistry, Volume 31, 2022, 100456, ISSN 2468-1709, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forc.2022.100456.

Recommended Citation

Forte, Leann M., "Optimal Extraction of Fentanyl VOCs for The Development of Canine Training Aid Mimics" (2023). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 5440.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/5440