Main description:

Hair Analysis in Clinical and Forensic Toxicology is an essential reference for toxicologists working with, and researching, hair analysis. The text presents a review of the most up-to-date analytical methods in toxicological hair analysis, along with state-of-the-art developments in the areas of hair physiology, sampling, and pre-treatments, as well as discussions of fundamental issues, applications, and results interpretation.

Topics addressed include the diagnosis of chronic excessive alcohol drinking by means of ethyl glucuronide (EtG) and fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEE), the early detection of new psychoactive substances, including designer drugs, the development of novel approaches to screening tests based on mass spectrometry, and the detection of prenatal exposure to psychoactive substances from the analysis of newborn hair.

Contents:

(1) Anatomy and physiology of hair, and principles for its collection
(2) Preparation of hair and extraction treatments for drugs of abuse and pharmaceuticals, screening procedures
(3) External contamination: still a debate?
(4) Alcohol biomarkers in hair
(5) Clinical applications of hair analysis
(6) Experiences in child hair analysis
(7) Hair analysis for the detection of exposure to pollutants
(8) Workplace testing and screening programs on large populations
(9) Forensic applications of hair analysis
(10) Doping applications of hair analysis
(11) Detection of "new drugs" in hair samples
(12) New challenges for mass spectrometry in hair analysis