Specific problems associated with doping control using hair
Although hair is not yet a valid specimen for the International Olympic Committee (IOC), it is accepted in most courts of justice. Some conflicting results have been observed, all of which involve athletes who tested positive in urine at accredited IOC laboratories and negative in hair in forensic certified laboratories. Much experience has been acquired in the detection of opiates and cocaine in hair. In contrast, there is a serious lack of suitable references to interpret the analytical findings for doping agents. In hair, doping agent concentrations, such as anabolic steroids, corticosteroids, or b2-agonists, are in the pg/mg range, whereas cocaine, amfetamines or opiates are generally found in the range of several ng/mg. The Society of Hair Testing has suggested that a consensus on hair testing for the presence of doping agents should be carried out (Sachs and Kintz 2000). More research is required before all of the scientific questions associated with hair-drug testing can be satisfied. There is still a lack of consensus among the active investigators on how to interpret the analysis of drugs in hair. Among the unanswered questions, five are of critical importance:
1. What is the minimal amount of drug detectable in hair after administration?
2. What is the relationship between the amount of the drug used and the concentration of the drug or its metabolites in hair?
3. What is the influence of hair colour?
4. What is the influence of genetic differences in hair testing?
5. What is the influence of cosmetic treatments? Several answers were proposed recently by Kintz et al. (1999, 2000a) on these specific topics.
