In recent years, there have been increasing complaints from staff working in UK prisons of secondary exposure to psychoactive drug fumes, often believed to be synthetic cannabinoids.
We were commissioned by the Prison Officers Association to conduct a pilot study aimed to provide an initial evidence base for this issue and reveal compounds of interest within indoor prison air.
Our team developed a new method for the detection of synthetic cannabinoids in air and demonstrated its application in a UK prison. Air sampling was conducted using a fixed sequential sampler, alongside personal air sampling units worn by prison officers within an English prison. Air samples were collected onto thermal desorption (TD) tubes and analysed via comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled to time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC × GC-TOF MS).
This study is the first of its kind in a prison setting, and the approach is of importance to analytical scientists, policy makers and public health employees tasked with the health and safety of prison staff. GC × GC-TOF MS analysis was able to separate and identify a range of compounds present in the prison air samples.
Air monitoring in prisons presents a challenge of logistics and science. Fixed sequential air sampling combined with personal air monitoring devices allowed air from multiple locations within a prison to be collected, providing a comprehensive approach to evaluating the air that prison staff is exposed to during a fixed time period.