Illicit drug contamination of the Bristol pound local currency

Paul Bowdler; Ella Gale; Freya Bryant; Samuel Codd; Sophie Hudd; Reece Longden; Paul White; Kevin C Honeychurch

doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2020.110469

Illicit drug contamination of the Bristol pound local currency

Forensic Sci Int. 2020 Nov:316:110469. doi: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2020.110469. Epub 2020 Aug 22.

Authors

Paul Bowdler¹, Ella Gale², Freya Bryant¹, Samuel Codd¹, Sophie Hudd¹, Reece Longden¹, Paul White³, Kevin C Honeychurch⁴

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Health and Applied Sciences, Department of Applied Sciences, University of the West of England, Frenchay Campus, Coldharbour Lane, Bristol, BS16 1QY, UK.
² Technology Enhanced Chemical Synthesis CDT, School of Chemistry, Cantock's Close, Bristol, BS8 1TS, UK.
³ Faculty of Environment and Technology, Engineering, Design and Mathematics, University of the West of England, Frenchay Campus, Coldharbour Lane, Bristol, BS16 1QY, UK.
⁴ Faculty of Health and Applied Sciences, Department of Applied Sciences, University of the West of England, Frenchay Campus, Coldharbour Lane, Bristol, BS16 1QY, UK. Electronic address: Kevin.honeychurch@uwe.ac.uk.

PMID: 32891826
DOI: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2020.110469

Abstract

Reports have shown the prevalence of the contamination of banknotes with a number of different drugs. These studies have focused on investigating drug contamination levels on currency which is either nationally or even international distributed. To present there has been no studies undertaken on banknotes circulating in well-defined and limited geographic areas. In this present study we have investigated the presence of drug contamination on the Local Currency, circulating in a known geographic area in and around the city of Bristol, UK; the Bristol Pound (£B). The effect of sample size was investigated and a post-hoc statistical power analysis undertaken. Following liquid extraction with the aid of sonication, levels of cocaine, benzoylecgonine, MDMA, ketamine and methamphetamine were determined by liquid chromatography triple quadrupole mass spectrometry. Seven samples of each denomination in circulation were investigated. The calculated median values per note were 2030ng cocaine, 91.9ng benzoylecgonine, 0.779ng methamphetamine, 62.8ng MDMA and 3440ng ketamine. This study focuses on our preliminary studies and to our knowledge this is the first investigation focused on the drug contamination of a Local Currency.

Keywords: Bristol pound; Drugs; LC–MS/MS; Local Currency; paper currency.