The influence of cleansing shampoos on ethyl glucuronide concentration in hair analyzed with an optimized and validated LC-MS/MS method

Ethyl glucuronide (EtG) is widely used as a marker for assessment of alcohol consumption behavior. In this study the influence of special cleansing shampoos on ethyl glucuronide concentrations in hair was investigated. For that purpose an optimized LC-MS/MS method was developed using a Hypercarb™ porous graphitic carbon (PGC) column and validated according to the guidelines of the German Society of Toxicological and Forensic Chemistry (GTFCh). Twenty-five hair samples of persons with known alcohol consumption behavior were investigated (21 positive samples and 4 blank samples). The hair samples were divided into two strands of hair and were analyzed after treatment with one out of four cleansing shampoos and without shampoo treatment. EtG concentrations in hair did not show any significant differences after a single application of the different cleansing shampoos. EtG was still detectable in all the positive hair samples without significant concentration change. These results clearly demonstrated that a single application of the tested cleansing shampoos did not remove EtG from hair and therefore had no influence on EtG concentration in analytical hair analysis.