Unfortunately, the news about young people who have been drugged in the disco without realizing it after some unknown person has introduced some will-deprivation chemical into their drink is becoming more common on the news. In the effort to stop this situation or at least be able to identify that this crime has actually existed, orn team from the Universitat Politècnica de València and the Center for Biomedical Research in the Network of Bioengineering, Biomaterials and Nanomedicine (CIBER-BBN), in collaboration with the BAM Institute in Berlin, has developed a new test that allows for the rapid, easy detection of and cheap the presence of burundanga and cannibal drug, either in a saliva sample, or diluted in any drink. Their results have been published in the journal nanoscale.
According to recent studies, sexual assaults with chemical submission of the victims now account for 20.9% of the cases. The main drug used in these violations is alcohol, although the aggressors also use other psychotropic substances, such as scopolamine (SCP), better known as burundanga, which is very difficult to detect because its traces disappear very quickly in the body. .
“With a mobile phone and in less than a quarter of an hour we will be able to find out if there has been an attempted sexual assault by chemical submission with this drug”
The new test devised by researchers from the IDM Institute of the UPV, the CIBER-BBN and the BAM makes it possible to detect it quickly, “in just fifteen minutes”, according to the researchers who have developed it. To do this, they have designed a test strip on which a nanosensor based on nanoparticles loaded with a fluorescent indicator (rhodamine B) and functionalized with a molecular gate that responds specifically in the presence of the narcotic is deposited. For its reading, something as everyday as a mobile phone is used.
“With a mobile phone and in less than a quarter of an hour we will be able to find out if there has been an attempted sexual assault by chemical submission with this drug. To do this, it will suffice to take a small sample of saliva or drink and submerge the strip; if there is drug, the fluorescence level will increase rapidly, due to the release of the dye from the deposited nanosensor. Once the 15 minutes have elapsed, a photo is taken with the mobile phone where, by comparing it with a sample that does not contain the narcotic, the presence of burundanga can be truly verified.”, explains Eva María Garrido García, from the IDM Institute at the Polytechnic University of Valencia.
Test can detect cannibal drugs and other substances
In addition to detecting burundanga, the test developed by the team from the UPV, the CIBER-BBN and the BAM makes it possible to detect MDPV (methylenedioxypyrovalerone), the so-called ‘cannibal drug’. “You can simultaneously detect both drugs using the same saliva or drink sample. And it could be extended to other substances.
“The psychoactive substance most commonly associated with chemically submissive sexual assaults is alcohol, but there are drugs in circulation that can incapacitate the victim. Among them is the cannibal drug, but also ketamine, GHB or flunitrazepam. Our system, thanks to its versatility, can also be adapted for the detection of these and other substances in liquid samples. And what is most important, in any of the cases, it can be used by anyone, without the need for expert knowledge”, emphasizes Ramón Martínez Máñez.
The IDM and CIBER-BBN team validated these new tests in different kinetic release tests carried out in their laboratories at the Universitat Politècnica de València and in collaboration with the Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM) of Berlin.
Source: CIBER-BBN
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