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Regional Forensic Science Center to buy $408,412 QToF system to detect emerging drugs
Summary
The board approved a $408,412.66 proposal from Agilent Technologies to equip the Regional Forensic Science Center with a liquid chromatograph–quadrupole time‑of‑flight mass spectrometer (QToF) intended to expand detection of novel psychoactive substances; RFSC staff said the system could process roughly 1,000–1,500 cases per year and the purchase is time‑sensitive before the state fiscal‑year end.
The Board of Bids and Contracts voted May 1 to accept a proposal from Agilent Technologies, Inc. for a liquid chromatograph–quadrupole time‑of‑flight mass spectrometer (LC–QToF) for the Regional Forensic Science Center at a cost of $408,412.66.
A RFSC presenter described challenges the lab faces detecting novel and rapidly evolving psychoactive substances with existing instrumentation and said the LC–QToF “excels at untargeted analysis to detect out of scope drugs, which enables detection of emerging compounds not captured by current methods.” The presenter said this capability will help both postmortem toxicology and impaired‑driving investigations. Purchasing and the presenting committee recommended awarding the proposal based on RFP criteria including system performance, infrastructure impact, vendor support and training, and cost.
Tyson Baird, identified in the transcript as the chief toxicologist at the Regional Forensic Science Center, said the instrument will improve sensitivity and specificity for low‑concentration compounds. “So our existing methods to detect fentanyl will miss these,” Baird said, describing the class of emerging fentanyl analogs and designer drugs the QToF can detect. Baird estimated the county could run roughly 1,000–1,500 cases per year on the new instrumentation, noting cases may include multiple samples.
Meeting presenters also told the board the purchase is time‑sensitive because contract work must be completed before the end of the state fiscal year on June 30. The Chair moved to accept the Agilent proposal; the motion was seconded and adopted by voice vote.
