Disposition of Cocaine and Its Metabolites in Human Sweat after Controlled Cocaine Administration

Background: Sweat testing is a noninvasive technique for monitoring drug exposure in treatment, criminal justice, and employment settings. Methods: We evaluated cocaine excretion in 9 partici-pants ’ sweat after they received 3 low doses (75 mg/70 kg) of cocaine HCl subcutaneously within 1 week and, 3 weeks later, 3 high doses (150 mg/70 kg). Six additional participants completed portions of the study. Pharm-Chek ® sweat patches (n 1390) were collected through-out a 3-week washout period, reflecting previously self-administered drugs, and during and after controlled dosing. Results: Cocaine was the primary analyte detected with 24 % of patches positive at the gas chromatography–mass spectrometry limit of quantification of 2.5 ng/patch an