What is Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS)?
The most precise procedure for detection of drugs of abuse in urine is a combination of gas chromatography (GC) and mass spectrometry (MS), abbreviated GC/MS, which provides an exact molecular identification of substances. Compounds are separated by GC and are then introduced, one at a time, into a mass spectrometer. As the sample constituents enter the MS, they are bombarded by electrons, which cause the compound to break up into molecular fragments. The fragmentation pattern is reproducible and characteristic, and is considered the “molecular-fingerprint” of a specific compound. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry is considered to be the most definitive method for confirming the presence of a drug in the urine and is admissible in the Court of Law.
