Impact of innovative mass spectrometric instrumentation on the analytical determinations with legal implications

An increasing number of analytical determinations are currently executed to comply with law enforcements, regarding various aspects of both industrial production and social behavior. These issues include prevention of environmental pollution, food safety, antidoping controls, safe-driving policies, and many others. For such determinations, innovation in analytical procedures offers substantial opportunities to improve the control effectiveness, but in the same time raises questions about the reliability of results. In general, official analytical methods are rather conservative, as they should satisfy a widespread and standardized applicability. In particular, prompt acceptance of novel mass spectrometric (MS) techniques, in the analytical methods involving legal implications, depends on the nature of the advantages that innovation will offer. New technologies that improve measurable properties (i.e. resolution, sensitivity, repeatability) are rapidly acknowledged and applied, whereas those implying a new approach to conventional inquiries (for example, new ionization or desorption methods) or providing more sophisticated information are likely to be accepted with a delay. The presentation will provide a survey on the major instrumental advancements occurred in mass spectrometry during the last years and the effects that such innovations have produced in a variety of analytical determinations involving legal implications. Typical examples, useful to illustrate these effects, will be taken from toxicology, forensic science, antidoping activity, drug abuse in animal breeding, environmental and food-safety control. Some MS advancements have created the premises for a revolution, still in progress, within the system of accredited analytical method, while others have opened entirely new branches of forensic investigation. Recent results from the author's research activity will also be presented.