Impact of the grinding process on the quantification of ethyl glucuronide in hair using a validated UPLC-ESI-MS-MS method

Abstract

The Society of Hair Testing (SoHT) has provided cutoffs for the quantification of ethyl glucuronide (EtG) in hair to indicate occasional or chronic/excessive alcohol consumption. Although several sensitive methods have been reported, past proficiency test results show a lack of reproducibility. An ultra-performance liquid chromatographic mass spectrometric method (LLOQ of 10 pg EtG/mg hair) has been validated according to the international guidelines, including the successful participation in five proficiency tests. This method was subsequently used to evaluate the impact of different grinding conditions (cut, weakly or extensively pulverized hair samples) on the final measured EtG concentration. Hair from alcohol consumers (n = 2) and commercially available quality control samples (QCs) (n = 2) was used. For the QCs, extensive pulverization led to a significantly higher amount of measured EtG. In the hair samples obtained from volunteers, cut or weakly pulverized hair resulted in EtG concentrations below the LLOQ, while the mean concentrations of 14 and 40 pg EtG/mg hair were determined after extensive pulverization. Differences in sample preparation could partially explain inter-laboratory variability. As the differences in results can lead to a different interpretation even when applying the SoHT cutoffs, it is of interest to standardize sample preparation techniques in the field of EtG hair testing.