Rapid detection of clandestine 1,4-butanediol adulteration in a dietary supplement utilizing phytoforensic techniques

Dietary Supplements (DS) are regulated in the United States under 21CFR part 111. By law a DS may not contain any pharmaceutical ingredient. Recently, there has been a substantial rise in the clandestine adulteration of DS with various pharmaceutical compounds and analogues. The discovery of drugs of abuse, especially drugs implicated in sexual abuse, is of great concern. In order to evade detection, clandestine manufacturers often substitute the desired drug with a prodrug. We present the application of phytoforensic techniques utilizing GCMS, LCMS and FTIR to rapidly detect and confirm the presence of 1,4-butanediol (BD), a pro-drug that converts to gamma-hydroxybutryic acid (GHB) upon ingestion in an off-the-shelf allegedly all-natural supplement. The concept of the phytoforensic approach and how it differs from routine analysis is discussed as well as the importance of these techniques for non-targeted analysis.