Detecting drugs in dry bone: a pilot study of skeletal remains with a post-mortem interval over 23 years

Abstract

In decomposed or skeletonized bodies, conventional matrices used in forensic toxicology may no longer be available for analysis. The aim of this paper was to test the survival and detection of toxicological substances in dry bone samples with over 23 years of post-mortem interval. In this perspective, bone samples from the cranium, ribs, and vertebrae of seven skeletons from the CAL Milano Cemetery Skeletal Collection, buried for over 23 years, fully decomposed and altered by taphonomic factors were selected based on their ante-mortem data, which included verified or suspected drug addictions or overdose. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were performed with Dionex™ ASE™ 350 Accelerated Solvent Extractor and Q-Exactive Orbitrap-mass spectrometry with a HPLC system. Positive results were obtained in six of the seven cases, and different psychoactive drugs (and in some cases their active metabolites) were detected, including analgesic (two opioids: methadone and buprenorphine) and anxiolytic drugs (benzodiazepines, in particular delorazepam, diazepam, nordiazepam, and lorazepam), a cannabinoid metabolite (THCCOOH) as well as metabolites of stimulants (benzoylecgonine and MDA). Consequently, this research shows that toxicological substances may be found in bone tissue after over 23 years of post-mortem interval.

Keywords: 23 years of post-mortem interval; Accelerated solvent extraction; Alternative matrix; Bone toxicology; Dry bone; HPLC-MS analysis.