Electrospray Ionization

With athletes’ contracts running, in some cases, to over $100 million, it’s not surprising that some push their performance with drugs.  Mass spectroscopy is one of the more sensitive ways of determining doping, but a lab at the University of Texas at Arlington has shown that “paired ion electrospray ionization” is a kind of mass spec that can be a thousand times more sensitive to banned substances.  This piece does not, however, address the special problem of doping with human growth hormone.  There’s no baseline for normal HGH.  Some individuals can have a higher normal than others, and if a doping charge for HGH is mistaken and ruins an innocent player’s contract/career, the athlete could end up owning the testing lab. MORE

Image Credit: Scripps.edu