A Single Fingerprint Can Determine Cocaine Use, New Drug Test Does Not Require Urine or Blood

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A more reliable and less invasive type of drug test to determine cocaine use only takes an individual's fingerprint instead of the more traditional testing that involves blood, urine, or saliva, scientists say.

The researchers from Britain and the Netherlands developed a test which uses a technique called mass spectrometry to find chemical indicators that are present in the fingerprints after the breakdown of the drug in the body, according to CBS News. The study was published in the journal Analyst.

"When someone has taken cocaine, they excrete traces of benzoylecgonine and methylecgonine as they metabolize the drug, and these chemical indicators are present in fingerprint residue," according to Dr. Melanie Bailey of the University of Surrey and lead author of the study.

The scientists say that the fingerprint drug test can also determine if the person is actually taking cocaine or just happened to come by it via touching.

According to the UK Independent, there is lesser chance for people to successfully fake the test since fingerprints are unique in every individual because drug negative urine samples can easily be passed off by anyone taking the test as their own.

"The beauty of this method is that, not only is it non-invasive and more hygienic than testing blood or saliva, it can't be faked," Dr. Bailey said via CBS. "By the very nature of the test, the identity of the subject is captured within the fingerprint ridge detail itself."

For their research, the researchers inspected the fingerprints from patients who are undergoing rehabilitation at drug and alcohol treatment centers. The researchers were able to find elements of cocaine in the fingerprints of the patients using the mass spectrometry technique.

"These results provide exciting opportunities for the use of fingerprints as a new sampling medium for secure, non-invasive drug detection," the scientists wrote in their paper. "The mass spectrometry techniques used here offer a high level of selectivity and consume only a small area of a single fingerprint, allowing repeat and high throughput analyses of a single sample."

According to the UK Daily Mail, drug testing is commonly used by probation services, courts, prisons, and several other law enforcement agencies. The researchers hope that portable testing kits could be widely available within the decade.

With regards to their findings, Dr. Bailey explained via UK Mirror, "We are only bound by the size of the current technology. Companies are already working on miniaturised mass spectrometers and, in the future, portable fingerprint drugs tests could be deployed.

"This will help to protect the public and indeed provide a much safer test for drug users.