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Use of banned substances by athletes possible of being identified by new technique

As per the findings of a research that was published in the journal Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry, a new technique (hydropyrolysis) can provide a long jump forward when it comes to identifying use of banned substances by athletes.

It is considered that this technique would provide improved insights to sporting drug officials for distinguishing between naturally-producing and synthetically-producing steroids.

From News-Medical.Net:

Although synthetic and naturally occurring steroids are similar, they differ in the ratio of ‘heavy’ carbon to ‘light’ carbon they contain. However, measuring this carbon ratio has previously been extremely difficult because the molecules react too aggressively with laboratory instruments to allow accurate analysis.

The new approach, developed by scientists from Imperial College London and the University of Nottingham, allows easy analysis of the carbon ratio. It uses a catalytic reaction to strip steroids of their more aggressive parts whilst leaving the carbon ‘skeleton‘ intact. This technique, called hydropyrolysis, is commonly used to aid oil exploration by freeing small fragments of organic matter from petroleum rock sources.

Dr Mark Sephton, from Imperial’s Department of Earth Science and Engineering and lead author of the research, remarked that drug cheaters should beware as this technique would make it difficult to escape detection when the use of performance enhancing drugs is made.

This study is considered to provide invaluable insights to the involved researchers trying new ways to inhibit the use of steroids in sports.