Skip to main content
Home

Dedicated to discovery

  • Company
    • About us
    • Careers
    • Events
  • Support
    • Laboratory Planning
    • Register a Product
    • Register Your Product (USA & Canada Only)
  • Contact
  • U.S.A.
  • Deutschland
  • España
  • France
  • Italia
  • Brasil
  • 日本
  • 中国
Home
  • Products
    • PURELAB®
      • PURELAB® Quest
      • PURELAB® Pharma Compliance
      • PURELAB® Chorus 1 Complete
      • PURELAB® Chorus 1
      • PURELAB® Chorus 2
      • PURELAB® Chorus 2 +
      • PURELAB® Chorus 3
      • PURELAB® flex 1
      • PURELAB® flex 2
      • PURELAB® flex 3
      • PURELAB® flex 4
      • PURELAB® flex 5
    • CENTRA®
      • CENTRA® R60/120
      • CENTRA® R200
      • CENTRA® RDS
    • MEDICA®
      • MEDICA® 7/15
      • MEDICA® Pro-R & Pro-RE
      • MEDICA® R200
      • MEDICA® EDI 15/30
      • MEDICA® Pro-LPS
      • MEDICA® Pro EDI 60/120
      • MEDICA® BIOX
      • Hubgrade
    • BIOPURE®
      • BIOPURE® 300/600
    • ELGA Full Product Range
      • PURELAB® Classic
  • Applications
    • Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy
    • Cell and Tissue Culture
    • Clinical Biochemistry
    • Electrochemistry
    • Gas Chromatography
    • General lab water requirement
    • Immunochemistry
    • Liquid Chromatography
    • Mass Spectrometry
    • Microbiology
    • Molecular Biology
    • Spectrophotometry
  • Technologies
    • Activated Carbon
    • Electrodeionization (EDI)
    • Filtration
    • Ion Exchange
    • PureSure
    • Reverse Osmosis
    • Ultraviolet
  • Impurities In Water
    • Dissolved Gases
    • Inorganic Compounds
    • Microorganisms & Bacteria
    • Organic Compounds
    • Particulates
  • Knowledge
    • Blog
    • Case Studies
    • Ultrapure water
    • Guides and White Papers
  • Where to buy
  • Contact us
Home
  • Contact us
  • Products
    • PURELAB®
      • PURELAB® Quest
      • PURELAB® Pharma Compliance
      • PURELAB® Chorus 1 Complete
      • PURELAB® Chorus 1
      • PURELAB® Chorus 2
      • PURELAB® Chorus 2 +
      • PURELAB® Chorus 3
      • PURELAB® flex 1
      • PURELAB® flex 2
      • PURELAB® flex 3
      • PURELAB® flex 4
      • PURELAB® flex 5
    • CENTRA®
      • CENTRA® R60/120
      • CENTRA® R200
      • CENTRA® RDS
    • MEDICA®
      • MEDICA® 7/15
      • MEDICA® Pro-R & Pro-RE
      • MEDICA® R200
      • MEDICA® EDI 15/30
      • MEDICA® Pro-LPS
      • MEDICA® Pro EDI 60/120
      • MEDICA® BIOX
      • Hubgrade
    • BIOPURE®
      • BIOPURE® 300/600
    • ELGA Full Product Range
      • PURELAB® Classic
  • Applications
    • Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy
    • Cell and Tissue Culture
    • Clinical Biochemistry
    • Electrochemistry
    • Gas Chromatography
    • General lab water requirement
    • Immunochemistry
    • Liquid Chromatography
    • Mass Spectrometry
    • Microbiology
    • Molecular Biology
    • Spectrophotometry
  • Technologies
    • Activated Carbon
    • Electrodeionization (EDI)
    • Filtration
    • Ion Exchange
    • PureSure
    • Reverse Osmosis
    • Ultraviolet
  • Impurities In Water
    • Dissolved Gases
    • Inorganic Compounds
    • Microorganisms & Bacteria
    • Organic Compounds
    • Particulates
  • Knowledge
    • Blog
    • Case Studies
    • Ultrapure water
    • Guides and White Papers
  • Where to buy
  • Contact us
  • Company
    • About us
    • Careers
    • Events
  • Support
    • Laboratory Planning
    • Register a Product
    • Register Your Product (USA & Canada Only)
  • Contact
  • U.S.A.
  • Deutschland
  • España
  • France
  • Italia
  • Brasil
  • 日本
  • 中国
  • Privacy policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Global Legal Compliance
  • Patents
  • Trademarks
  • Impressum

Let's talk about lab water

  • Categories
    • Analytical Chemistry
    • Biotechnology
    • Clinical & Pharma
    • Cool Science
    • Environment & Sustainability
    • Future Science
    • Life in The Lab
    • Life Science Results
    • PURELAB Product Design
    • Science of the Future
    • Water In The Lab
    • Water Purity
  • Authors
    • ELGA Editorial Team_cloned
    • ELGA Editorial Team
    • Natasha Zarach
    • Dr Paul Whitehead
    • Dr Alison Halliday
    • John Walker
Water Purity
Analytical Chemistry

Fighting Doping In Sport: The Importance Of Ultrapure Water For Drug Testing

26 Jan 2020
- by ELGA Editorial Team

Sprinter taking off from starting block on running track

Sport is not always a level playing field because some athletes take illegal performance-enhancing drugs. Such “doping” can not only give athletes advantages over others and potentially impact upon the reputation of sport, but it can also carry serious health risks.

As such, worldwide anti-doping organizations enforce testing for banned substances in athletes, which often includes the use of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) for the highly sensitive analysis of drug testing samples. Yet, ultrapure water is essential for the effective operation of HPLC. So, how can labs prevent water contamination to ensure the reliable detection of prohibited drugs in sport?

Fighting Doping In Sport

Illegal performance-enhancing drugs range from stimulants that increase blood flow and heart rate, such as amphetamines and cocaine, to hormones that increase muscle bulk, strength, and oxygen-carrying red blood cells, such as erythropoietin (EPO) and testosterone.

Doping is considered problematic by many sporting organizations worldwide, because it is perceived to give athletes unfair advantages and can cause severe health risks. For example, EPO and stimulants can increase the risk of having a stroke or heart attack, which could be fatal.

Doping in sport is combated across the world by anti-doping organizations under the guidance of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), which was formed in 1999 after shocking revelations of widespread doping in cycling. Under its World Anti-Doping Code, WADA stipulates a list of banned substances in seven categories: androgens, blood doping, peptide hormones, stimulants, diuretics, narcotics, and cannabinoids.

Detecting Doping At Sporting Events

Testing competing athletes for traces of prohibited substances is implemented by anti-doping organizations to identify and discipline athletes who use banned drugs, as well as to deter others from doping. In-competition testing involves collecting samples of an athlete’s urine and/or blood over a time period starting 12 hours prior to a sporting competition until its end.

After collection, the biological samples are analyzed in the laboratory for any banned substances. They are also stored so that untraceable substances can be detected in the future by improved analytical methods, as in the International Olympic Committee’s recent retroactive disqualification of three medal winners at Beijing 2008 and London 2012.

An important technique used for the highly sensitive detection of banned substances in athletes’ urine and plasma samples is high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).

Liquid Chromatography For Doping Tests

High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) in sport doping tests involves passing a pressurized “mobile phase” containing an athlete’s urine or plasma sample, as well as water and solvents, through an adsorbent column. The sample components interact differently with the adsorbent particles, and so flow differently to become separated from each other.

For example, HPLC can be used to detect various banned diuretics, such as acetazolamide and bumetanide. Diuretics increase the frequency of urination, which allows doping athletes to flush out traces of other illegal substances to falsely pass drug tests, and reduces their weight to increase their speed and agility.

HPLC is a highly regarded method for the detection of diuretics and other banned substances in sport, because it is highly sensitive, efficient, affordable, and adaptable. However, laboratories must ensure that the mobile phase is free from contaminants for effective HPLC operation.

Ensuring Water Purity In Drug Testing

Water contaminants in the mobile phase of HPLC, such as ions, particulates, organics, and bacteria, can cause multiple problems with data output, including: variable retention times; loss of resolution; tailing, ghost, adduct, or negative peaks; and noisy baselines or baseline drift.

A build-up of contaminants can also produce backpressure in the HPLC system, causing columns to fail or explode, and ultimately shortens column life and leads to system shutdown.

Therefore, laboratories must have troubleshooting practices in place to prevent water contamination, ensuring effective HPLC operation for reliable drug testing. Here are some of our recommended best practices:

  • Use ultrapure water (Type I+ water) freshly prepared from an in-house filter system, change filters regularly, and discard the first couple of liters of freshly prepared ultrapure water;
  • Don’t use plastic tubing or storage containers. Use dedicated glassware for storage and clean it regularly using HPLC-grade solvents (methanol or acetonitrile) and ultrapure water;
  • For more rigorous cleaning, use sonicate with 10% formic acid or nitric acid, then repeatedly rinse with water and solvents. Don’t use detergents;
  • Prevent ultrapure water absorbing contaminants from the atmosphere by homogenizing, de-gassing, and filtering the mobile phase daily;
  • If contamination occurs, autoclave all containers, replace all filters and tubing, and purge the system using mobile phase solvents overnight.

If you want to know more about ultrapure water, or have any enquiries you wish to pose, do

contact us here.

Pure Water Essence of the Lab Whitepaper download

How well do you know your ultrapure lab water?

Do you know the most effective way to use ultrapure water, your most fundamental reagent? Read our full whitepaper and discover how you can make sure that your pure water supply delivers the performance you need to produce reliable and accurate results.

          Read the Whitepaper

 

 

Explore more from our blog

27 Mar 2023
How does a plant-based diet affect the mineral content of breast milk?
9 Mar 2023
Identifying antibacterial compounds in industrial hemp
27 Feb 2023
Single-cell suspensions from the human placenta
16 Jan 2023
Measuring the effects of indoor air pollution
10 Jan 2023
A novel approach to wound healing
12 Dec 2022
3D bioprinting probiotics capsules
4 Nov 2022
Wie mikrobielle Brennstoffzellen zur Lösung von zwei dringenden globalen Umweltproblemen beitragen könnten
24 Oct 2022
New ‘designer drug’ identified in e-cigarettes

Blog Categories

  • Analytical Chemistry
  • Biotechnology
  • Clinical & Pharma
  • Cool Science
  • Environment & Sustainability
  • Future Science
  • Life in The Lab
  • Life Science Results
  • PURELAB Product Design
  • Science of the Future
  • Water In The Lab
  • Water Purity
  • Enquiry
  • Get a Quote
  • Book a Demo
  • Find an Approved Partner

Enquiry

Please check this to confirm that you have read our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Get a Quote

Please check this to confirm that you have read our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Book a Demo

Please check this to confirm that you have read our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Call us

Can't find what you are looking for?

Support Number
+44 (0)20 3567 7300
United Kingdom Sales
+44 (0)1628 879 704
United States of America Sales
+1 877-315-3542
France Sales
+33 1 40 83 65 00
China Sales
+86 400-616-8882

 

ELGA LabWater US Headquarters

ELGA LabWater North America
5 Earl Ct Suite 100
Woodridge, IL 60517
USA

Tel: 630-343-5251

ELGA LabWater UK Headquarters

Lane End Business Park
Lane End, High Wycombe
HP14 3BY
United Kingdom
T: +44 (0) 203 567 7300
F: +44 (0) 203 567 7205

Case Studies

  • Abbott Diagnostics
  • DASA Medical Diagnostics
  • NeoDIN Medical Institute
  • North Staffordshire NHS Trust
  • Olsberg Vocational College

Resources

  • Learn About Ultrapure Water
  • Guides and White Papers
  • Purification Technologies
  • Applications
  • Impurities In Water

Blogs

  • Latest Blog
  • Water Purity - Different Types of Pure Water
  • What is Clinical Laboratory Reagent Water (CLSI)?
  • What is Total Organic Carbon (TOC)?

© VWS (UK) Ltd. trading as ELGA LabWater. 2023 - All rights reserved.
ELGA is the global laboratory water brand name of Veolia.

  • Privacy policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Global Legal Compliance
  • Patents
  • Trademarks
  • Impressum
  • Language
    • Deutsch
    • English
    • Español
    • Français
    • Italiano
    • Português
    • 日本語
    • 中文
  • Other Veolia Sites
    • Veolia
    • Veolia Foundation
    • Veolia Water Technologies
Elga Veolia
TOP

© 2017 ELGA Veolia