The threat of fentanyl and its analogues in narcotic overdose fatalities and the exposure of first responders to the synthetic opioids demands reliable, rapid and sensitive identification in challenging matrices. The ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) technology based portable benchtop Drugs and Explosives Detector ‘DE-tector flex’ and the handheld device ‘RoadRunner’ both can be used to detect fentanyl at levels of only about 2 ng. Various fentanyl analogues can be detected, identified and distinguished. Selective detection of fentanyl can be achieved for low ng amounts even in the presence of large excesses of interferent accompanying substances as found in street samples.
