Assessing the suitability of ‘mass loss analysis’ as a low cost, low technology test to approximate MDMA content in ecstasy tablets, using laboratory and field comparisons 

Assessing the suitability of ‘mass loss analysis’ as a low cost, low technology test to approximate MDMA content in ecstasy tablets, using laboratory and field comparisons | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Assessing the suitability of ‘mass loss analysis’ as a low cost, low technology test to approximate MDMA content in ecstasy tablets, using laboratory and field comparisons Mike Pascoe, Guy Jones, Henry Simmons, Sarah Radley, Jens Thomas, and 3 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7670422/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Background MDMA-related deaths increased by over 50% year on year in the most recent official statistics for England and Wales, despite prevalence of use being at its lowest level on record. Identifying the content and strength of ecstasy tablets enables public health and harm reduction services to better monitor unregulated drug markets and disseminate information about substances of concern in circulation, including high and variable strength tablets. Developing an easily transportable, low cost, low technology test to approximate strength, for use within event-based temporary laboratories, can assist onsite support services through time and location-specific information. Methods The accuracy and utility of a solvent extraction-based procedure (mass loss analysis; MLA) to semi-quantify ecstasy tablets was assessed in laboratory and field settings. Firstly, a laboratory study compared MLA with quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance (qNMR) spectroscopy for 13 ecstasy tablets. Precision was determined through repeat measures of pooled batches and methodological agreement was determined using the Bland–Altman approach. Secondly, comparisons were made between tablets tested in a temporary field laboratory using MLA and data from European drug testing organisations using other analytical techniques. Results Laboratory comparison found reasonable agreement between MLA and qNMR measurements, with MLA overestimating content by an average of 14 mg/tablet, with accuracy increasing with MDMA content. Comparison between MLA test results and other drug testing organisations also found reasonable agreement on average tablet strength. Conclusions These findings suggest that the accuracy and precision of MLA is sufficient to support its utility in temporary laboratories when triangulated with other analytical techniques. As the cost of equipment and consumables is modest, the approach is well suited for organisations operating on limited budgets. Therefore MLA offers the potential to widen access to, and effective use of, semi-quantitative information on ecstasy tablets which pose increased risk, particularly in the context of the current UK market, with high and variable strength tablets of low cost and little adulteration or mis-selling. Such information can support harm reduction messaging, with the aim of reducing risk of overdose, against a backdrop of significantly increased MDMA-related deaths proportionate to prevalence of use in the UK. MDMA ecstasy tablets harm reduction quantification drug checking drug testing overdose Full Text Additional Declarations Competing interest reported. GJ, FM, SMR, HTDS and JT, are unpaid staff of The Loop Drug Checking Service, (Charity number: 1200533) which tested the tablets in the field study. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7670422","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":537468906,"identity":"9a7d7d60-d5fa-483d-9040-87c60c61afda","order_by":0,"name":"Mike Pascoe","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Cardiff University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mike","middleName":"","lastName":"Pascoe","suffix":""},{"id":537468908,"identity":"3fa394bb-7a47-430f-9ac2-5478a4c20e8b","order_by":1,"name":"Guy Jones","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"The Loop Drug Checking 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GJ, FM, SMR, HTDS and JT, are unpaid staff of The Loop Drug Checking Service, (Charity number: 1200533) which tested the tablets in the field study.","formattedTitle":"Assessing the suitability of ‘mass loss analysis’ as a low cost, low technology test to approximate MDMA content in ecstasy tablets, using laboratory and field comparisons ","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"MDMA, ecstasy, tablets, harm reduction, quantification, drug checking, drug testing, overdose","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7670422/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7670422/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003ch2\u003eBackground\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eMDMA-related deaths increased by over 50% year on year in the most recent official statistics for England and Wales, despite prevalence of use being at its lowest level on record. Identifying the content and strength of ecstasy tablets enables public health and harm reduction services to better monitor unregulated drug markets and disseminate information about substances of concern in circulation, including high and variable strength tablets. Developing an easily transportable, low cost, low technology test to approximate strength, for use within event-based temporary laboratories, can assist onsite support services through time and location-specific information.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eMethods\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe accuracy and utility of a solvent extraction-based procedure (mass loss analysis; MLA) to semi-quantify ecstasy tablets was assessed in laboratory and field settings. Firstly, a laboratory study compared MLA with quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance (qNMR) spectroscopy for 13 ecstasy tablets. Precision was determined through repeat measures of pooled batches and methodological agreement was determined using the Bland\u0026ndash;Altman approach. Secondly, comparisons were made between tablets tested in a temporary field laboratory using MLA and data from European drug testing organisations using other analytical techniques.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eResults\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eLaboratory comparison found reasonable agreement between MLA and qNMR measurements, with MLA overestimating content by an average of 14 mg/tablet, with accuracy increasing with MDMA content. Comparison between MLA test results and other drug testing organisations also found reasonable agreement on average tablet strength.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eConclusions\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThese findings suggest that the accuracy and precision of MLA is sufficient to support its utility in temporary laboratories when triangulated with other analytical techniques. As the cost of equipment and consumables is modest, the approach is well suited for organisations operating on limited budgets. Therefore MLA offers the potential to widen access to, and effective use of, semi-quantitative information on ecstasy tablets which pose increased risk, particularly in the context of the current UK market, with high and variable strength tablets of low cost and little adulteration or mis-selling. Such information can support harm reduction messaging, with the aim of reducing risk of overdose, against a backdrop of significantly increased MDMA-related deaths proportionate to prevalence of use in the UK.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Assessing the suitability of ‘mass loss analysis’ as a low cost, low technology test to approximate MDMA content in ecstasy tablets, using laboratory and field comparisons ","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-11-05 19:24:13","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7670422/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":1}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"595dc936-cf8e-4529-a5f4-dc5611f75f88","owner":[],"postedDate":"November 5th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-01-06T20:23:52+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-11-05 19:24:13","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7670422","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7670422","identity":"rs-7670422","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}