Impurity profiling of amphetamine

Impurity profiling of amphetamine Amphetamine is an illicit synthetic drug produced and consumed in Europe. To contribute to fight against illicit trafficking and production of amphetamine, some forensic laboratories use a methodology called profiling which allows links between seizures. Such information can be helpful for operational services and support the dismantling of illicit drugs trafficking networks. A consortium of European forensic laboratories has been set to develop an harmonised analytical method in order to feed a database at European scale and therefore fight trafficking at a supranational level. In France, only the Institut National de Police Scientifique (INPS) makes part of this network. The method consists in liquid-liquid extraction of amphetamine impurities followed by gas chromatographic/mass spectrometric analysis. The impurity profiles (abundance of each target compound), that constitute a chemical signature of each production batch, are then registered in a common database and compared in order to link different seizures. This article aims at explaining the concept of profiling and illustrating the various steps required for the development of the European harmonised method for the profiling of amphetamine.