Simultaneous determination of cannabidiol, cannabinol, and delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol in human hair by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

An analytical method was developed for evaluating the cannabidiol (CBD), cannabinol (CBN), and delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol (delta9-THC) level in human hair using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Hair samples (50 mg) were washed with isopropyl alcohol and cut into small fragments (< 1 mm). After adding a deuterated internal standard, the hair samples were incubated in 1.0 M NaOH for 10 min at 95 degrees C. The analytes from the resulting hydrolyzed samples were extracted using a mixture of n-hexane-ethyl acetate (75:25, v/v). The extracts were then evaporated, derivatized, and injected into the GC-MS. The recovery ranges of CBD, CBN, and delta9-THC at three concentration levels were 37.9-94.5% with good correlation coefficients (r2 >0.9989). The intra-day precision and accuracy ranged from -9.4% to 17.7%, and the inter-day precision and accuracy ranged from -15.5% to 14.5%, respectively. The limits of detection (LOD) for CBD, CBN, and delta9-THC were 0.005, 0.002, and 0.006 ng/mg, respectively. The applicability of this method of analyzing the hair samples from cannabis abusers was demonstrated.