It might not be a pleasant job, but testing sweat samples could soon play a role in monitoring drug addicts.
A team led by Nadia Fucci of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Rome, Italy, tested the sweat excretion profiles of drugs including methadone, caffeine and cocaine. Although it was difficult to quantify the amount of drug used, they found sweat offered a longer detection window than saliva and urine. Unlike hair, which can only show chronic use, even one-off use will show up in sweat (Forensic Science International, DOI: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2007.03.010).
Sweat patches could be used to…
