A Green Method for Seized Drug Screening Using a Portable Liquid Chromatograph With UV‐LED Detection

Portable instruments allow for on-site real-time analyses and generally take up less resources compared to standard-sized instruments. In this project, we tested the suitability of a portable liquid chromatograph for seized drug screening and how it, alone, may fulfill the requirements set forth by the Scientific Working Group for the Analysis of Seized Drugs (SWGDRUG). For this study, we used a portable liquid chromatograph, which employed a dual column system with on-column dual UV-LED detection. All 16 drugs representing different drug classes could be identified by a combination of dual relative retention times and dual UV absorbance ratios. Most classical drugs, which represent non-novel psychoactive compounds, could be identified based on the SWGDRUG guidelines. These results suggest the potential for liquid chromatography to be performed in the field using portable devices and to provide a greener alternative to traditional liquid chromatography due to greatly reduced solvent consumption.