@article{ref1,
title="Cocaine contamination of banknotes: a review",
journal="European journal of public health",
year="2017",
author="Troiano, Gianmarco and Mercurio, Isabella and Golfera, Marco and Nante, Nicola and Melai, Paola and Lancia, Massimo and Bacci, Mauro",
volume="27",
number="6",
pages="1097-1101",
abstract="BACKGROUND: The analysis of drug traces on banknotes with different validated techniques can provide important information about the types of substances that are used in a geographical region. The aim of our review was to investigate banknotes' contamination by cocaine, by its metabolite, but also by other drugs. <br><br>METHODS: A systematic literature search (English written literature) was conducted in MEDLINE, and Scopus, collecting studies from 1974 till 2017. The Key search terms included: 'banknote AND drug'; 'banknote AND cocaine'. <br><br>RESULTS: The literature search yielded 88 publications; 9 were included in our review. In six studies that showed banknotes' positivity to cocaine, the percentage ranged from 2.5% to 100%. The concentration of cocaine ranged from 0.09 ng/note to 889 µg/note. Benzoylecgonine was indentified only in three studies with a range from 0.71 to 130 ng/note. Other indentified drugs were: amphetamine derivatives, opiates, benzodiazepines. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Circulating banknotes could be used to indicate substances used in a population, and those recently introduced in a geographical macro-area. The identification of very high amounts of cocaine can provide important information for the identification of banknotes used in illegal trafficking.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1101-1262",
doi="10.1093/eurpub/ckx100",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckx100"
}