Rapid determination of Δ 9-Tetrahydrocannabinol in saliva by polymer monolith microextraction combined with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry

Abstract

A method was developed for the determination of Δ 9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in saliva by polymer monolith microextraction (PMME) combined with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. The poly(methacrylic acid-co-ethylene glycol dimethacrylate) ( p(MAA-co-EGDMA)) monolithic capillary column was selected as the extraction medium of PMME, which showed high extraction capacity towards THC in saliva. To reach optimum PMME extraction performance, several PMME parameters were investigated, including matrix pH, flow rate for extraction, sampling volume and elution solvent. Under the optimal conditions, good extraction efficiency was obtained with no matrix interference in the process of extraction and the subsequent GC–MS analysis. In the selected-ion monitoring (SIM) mode, the limit of detection (LOD) for THC was 0.68 ng/mL. The linearity range of the method was 3–300 ng/mL. Excellent reproducibility of the method was exhibited by intra- and inter-day precisions, yielding the relative standard deviations (R.S.D.s) less than 12%; recoveries higher than 89%. The proposed method was proved to be rapid, sensitive, and competently applied to the determination of THC in saliva samples.