{"id":{"repo_id":"auckland-ms","oai_identifier":"oai:researchspace.auckland.ac.nz:2292/40750"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/auckland-ms/oai:researchspace.auckland.ac.nz:2292/40750","repository":{"repo_id":"auckland-ms","name":"University of Auckland","base_url":"https://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Methamphetamine: Airborne analysis and oxidative destruction","abstract":"This thesis investigates two chemical aspects of the remediation of former clandestine methamphetamine laboratories: developing methods for detecting airborne methamphetamine with short (ca. 20 min) sampling times, and oxidation of methamphetamine as a possible decontamination method. Dynamic solid phase microextraction (SPME) had been previously used to detect μg m-3 concentrations of airborne methamphetamine at former clandestine laboratories, where surface methamphetamine concentrations exceeded 60 μg/100 cm2. The current study found that for sampling times under 20 min, relative humidity values up to 70% did not influence the sorption of methamphetamine for dynamic SPME sampling. A comparison of the sorption abilities of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and carboxen/divinylbenzene/polydimethylsiloxane (CAR/DVB/PDMS) fibres revealed that the PDMS fibre was twice as effective at sampling methamphetamine, under identical conditions. Capillary microextraction (CME), a high-surface area microextraction technique that has been used for sampling volatile organic compounds, was investigated as a more sensitive alternative to dynamic SPME sampling. CME devices were used to sample methamphetamine vapour (0.42-4.2 μg m-3) and analysed using GC/MS. The CME-GC/MS technique was found to be over 30 times more sensitive than the original dynamic SPME-GC/MS method. The CME devices were not affected by changes in relative humidity, and could be stored for up to 3 days post-sampling, without any loss of analyte. We demonstrated that on-sorbent derivatisation of methamphetamine with pentafluorobenzyl chloroformate could be conducted using the CME devices, improving both the intra-device variability and the detection limit of the analysis. Finally, four peroxide-based oxidations of methamphetamine were examined as potential methods for decontamination, and the reaction products were identified. 10% hydrogen peroxide, in the presence of an Fe-TAML catalyst, was the most effective, decomposing >99% of the methamphetamine into products including ii phenyl-2-propanone and benzaldehyde. BioOxygenÒ Chem-Decon, a commercial proprietary formulation, was effective in the removal of 93% of the methamphetamine, with the major identified product being phenylacetone oxime. 10% hydrogen peroxide, and 15% alkalised hydrogen peroxide were less effective under the conditions used, oxidising less than half the methamphetamine into products that could not be identified using our GC/MS and LC/MS protocols.","abstract_html":"This thesis investigates two chemical aspects of the remediation of former clandestine methamphetamine laboratories: developing methods for detecting airborne methamphetamine with short (ca. 20 min) sampling times, and oxidation of methamphetamine as a possible decontamination method. Dynamic solid phase microextraction (SPME) had been previously used to detect μg m-3 concentrations of airborne methamphetamine at former clandestine laboratories, where surface methamphetamine concentrations exceeded 60 μg/100 cm2. The current study found that for sampling times under 20 min, relative humidity values up to 70% did not influence the sorption of methamphetamine for dynamic SPME sampling. A comparison of the sorption abilities of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and carboxen/divinylbenzene/polydimethylsiloxane (CAR/DVB/PDMS) fibres revealed that the PDMS fibre was twice as effective at sampling methamphetamine, under identical conditions. Capillary microextraction (CME), a high-surface area microextraction technique that has been used for sampling volatile organic compounds, was investigated as a more sensitive alternative to dynamic SPME sampling. CME devices were used to sample methamphetamine vapour (0.42-4.2 μg m-3) and analysed using GC/MS. The CME-GC/MS technique was found to be over 30 times more sensitive than the original dynamic SPME-GC/MS method. The CME devices were not affected by changes in relative humidity, and could be stored for up to 3 days post-sampling, without any loss of analyte. We demonstrated that on-sorbent derivatisation of methamphetamine with pentafluorobenzyl chloroformate could be conducted using the CME devices, improving both the intra-device variability and the detection limit of the analysis. Finally, four peroxide-based oxidations of methamphetamine were examined as potential methods for decontamination, and the reaction products were identified. 10% hydrogen peroxide, in the presence of an Fe-TAML catalyst, was the most effective, decomposing >99% of the methamphetamine into products including ii phenyl-2-propanone and benzaldehyde. BioOxygenÒ Chem-Decon, a commercial proprietary formulation, was effective in the removal of 93% of the methamphetamine, with the major identified product being phenylacetone oxime. 10% hydrogen peroxide, and 15% alkalised hydrogen peroxide were less effective under the conditions used, oxidising less than half the methamphetamine into products that could not be identified using our GC/MS and LC/MS protocols.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Nair, Mansa"],"institution":"ResearchSpace@Auckland","degree_name":"PhD","degree_level":"Doctoral","degree_discipline":"Forensic Science","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Miskelly, G","Fedrizzi, B"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2018,"date_issued":"2018","date_published":"2018","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:03:18Z","subjects":[],"languages":[],"rights":["Items in ResearchSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated. 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Dynamic solid phase microextraction (SPME) had been previously used to detect μg m-3 concentrations of airborne methamphetamine at former clandestine laboratories, where surface methamphetamine concentrations exceeded 60 μg/100 cm2. The current study found that for sampling times under 20 min, relative humidity values up to 70% did not influence the sorption of methamphetamine for dynamic SPME sampling. A comparison of the sorption abilities of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and carboxen/divinylbenzene/polydimethylsiloxane (CAR/DVB/PDMS) fibres revealed that the PDMS fibre was twice as effective at sampling methamphetamine, under identical conditions. Capillary microextraction (CME), a high-surface area microextraction technique that has been used for sampling volatile organic compounds, was investigated as a more sensitive alternative to dynamic SPME sampling. CME devices were used to sample methamphetamine vapour (0.42-4.2 μg m-3) and analysed using GC/MS. The CME-GC/MS technique was found to be over 30 times more sensitive than the original dynamic SPME-GC/MS method. The CME devices were not affected by changes in relative humidity, and could be stored for up to 3 days post-sampling, without any loss of analyte. We demonstrated that on-sorbent derivatisation of methamphetamine with pentafluorobenzyl chloroformate could be conducted using the CME devices, improving both the intra-device variability and the detection limit of the analysis. Finally, four peroxide-based oxidations of methamphetamine were examined as potential methods for decontamination, and the reaction products were identified. 10% hydrogen peroxide, in the presence of an Fe-TAML catalyst, was the most effective, decomposing >99% of the methamphetamine into products including ii phenyl-2-propanone and benzaldehyde. BioOxygenÒ Chem-Decon, a commercial proprietary formulation, was effective in the removal of 93% of the methamphetamine, with the major identified product being phenylacetone oxime. 10% hydrogen peroxide, and 15% alkalised hydrogen peroxide were less effective under the conditions used, oxidising less than half the methamphetamine into products that could not be identified using our GC/MS and LC/MS protocols."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Methamphetamine: Airborne analysis and oxidative destruction"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Miskelly, G","Fedrizzi, B"],"dc:creator":["Nair, Mansa"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2018-10-11T01:57:06Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2018"],"dc:description.abstract":["This thesis investigates two chemical aspects of the remediation of former clandestine methamphetamine laboratories: developing methods for detecting airborne methamphetamine with short (ca. 20 min) sampling times, and oxidation of methamphetamine as a possible decontamination method. Dynamic solid phase microextraction (SPME) had been previously used to detect μg m-3 concentrations of airborne methamphetamine at former clandestine laboratories, where surface methamphetamine concentrations exceeded 60 μg/100 cm2. The current study found that for sampling times under 20 min, relative humidity values up to 70% did not influence the sorption of methamphetamine for dynamic SPME sampling. A comparison of the sorption abilities of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and carboxen/divinylbenzene/polydimethylsiloxane (CAR/DVB/PDMS) fibres revealed that the PDMS fibre was twice as effective at sampling methamphetamine, under identical conditions. Capillary microextraction (CME), a high-surface area microextraction technique that has been used for sampling volatile organic compounds, was investigated as a more sensitive alternative to dynamic SPME sampling. CME devices were used to sample methamphetamine vapour (0.42-4.2 μg m-3) and analysed using GC/MS. The CME-GC/MS technique was found to be over 30 times more sensitive than the original dynamic SPME-GC/MS method. The CME devices were not affected by changes in relative humidity, and could be stored for up to 3 days post-sampling, without any loss of analyte. We demonstrated that on-sorbent derivatisation of methamphetamine with pentafluorobenzyl chloroformate could be conducted using the CME devices, improving both the intra-device variability and the detection limit of the analysis. Finally, four peroxide-based oxidations of methamphetamine were examined as potential methods for decontamination, and the reaction products were identified. 10% hydrogen peroxide, in the presence of an Fe-TAML catalyst, was the most effective, decomposing >99% of the methamphetamine into products including ii phenyl-2-propanone and benzaldehyde. BioOxygenÒ Chem-Decon, a commercial proprietary formulation, was effective in the removal of 93% of the methamphetamine, with the major identified product being phenylacetone oxime. 10% hydrogen peroxide, and 15% alkalised hydrogen peroxide were less effective under the conditions used, oxidising less than half the methamphetamine into products that could not be identified using our GC/MS and LC/MS protocols."],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://hdl.handle.net/2292/40750"],"dc:publisher":["ResearchSpace@Auckland"],"dc:relation.isreferencedby":["UoA99265111109402091"],"dc:rights":["Items in ResearchSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated. Previously published items are made available in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher."],"dc:rights.uri":["https://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/docs/uoa-docs/rights.htm"],"dc:title":["Methamphetamine: Airborne analysis and oxidative destruction"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Forensic Science"],"thesis:degree_level":["Doctoral"],"thesis:degree_name":["PhD"],"thesis:institution_name":["The University of Auckland"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:03:18Z"}