In 2023, 15,192 samples were received and tested for 1,161,023 analytes, a slight reduction in the number of samples received for analysis and a 32% increase in the number of analytes tested for compared to 2022. Analytical chemistry is a continually evolving science and staff of the Laboratory keep abreast of technological changes and take advantage of the opportunities offered by new technology to improve the quality and efficiency of the service provided to our clients. EU and Irish legislation is regularly updated to reflect technological developments and the Laboratory must continually update and improve its methods of analysis. These technological developments are the reason for the large increase in analytes tested. In 2023, new methods of analysis were developed and existing methods were extended so that 30 new tests were introduced, using a variety of analytical techniques. The Laboratory has an important advisory function and its staff act as the Irish representatives at EU scientific committees and technical Working Groups on behalf of Revenue and the Department of Enterprise, Trade, and Employment (DETE). Laboratory staff also actively participate and represent Ireland as national experts in international bodies such as, the EU working group on methods of analysis for animal feeds, the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN), and Eurachem. This annual report details the implementation of the State Laboratory's Strategy Statement for 2023 and highlights the Laboratory's main activities and achievements under each Strategic Goal.

P.14 Strategic Goal 4 Provide Centralised Analytical Toxicology Services to the State 
The State Laboratory tests post-mortem samples for a wide range of prescription medicines and illegal drugs for the Coroners Service and the Office of the State Pathologist. Samples are routinely analysed for approximately 170 drugs. The State Laboratory provides a toxicant testing service to DAFM to support investigations into large-scale poisoning incidents on farms and to the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) in relation to the illegal poisoning of wildlife, especially re-introduced birds of prey. This involves the analysis of a wide range of toxicants and veterinary drug residues in biological samples.

HUMAN TOXICOLOGY - The demand for this service has increased considerably, putting significant pressure on the Laboratory to maintain the service within the agreed turnaround times (TATs). The service provided allowed for an increase of 2-3 %, in line with expected population growth. Since 2020, the annual increase in sample numbers received was much larger. The additional sample numbers led to a backlog and a subsequent increase in TATs. TATs increased from 93 days to 160 days in mid-2023. A significant redesign project commenced in February 2023 to facilitate this growth in service, whilst returning the TATs to their original times. In 2023, sanction was received for an additional 10 staff, with the new staff arriving from autumn onwards. A substantial training period was initiated, to upskill the new staff. The next phase of this process is the implementation of the new service and sectional models. This implementation phase will commence in 2024. A new method for the analysis of BHB in blood was developed and validated in 2023. This analysis was previously outsourced and new instrumentation purchased in 2022 allowed the Laboratory to develop this expertise in-house Several new analytes were added to the drug screening method on the High Resolution Accurate Mass LCMS (HRMS), including novel pyschoactive substances (NPS) and synthetic cannabinoids, increasing the scope of analysis.

The Laboratory proactively keeps abreast of national and European drug alerts and trends, participating in many toxicology groups. The Laboratory routinely uses this information to establish and maintain a database used to screen for ‘unknowns’. spectrometry High-resolution capabilities were mass further enhanced with the addition of a Thermo Exploris 120 HRLCMS in early 2023. In December 2023, a number of non-fatal heroin overdoses were investigated by the HSE and, as a result of testing in the Laboratory in conjunction with other toxicology services, it was determined that a nitazene compound, npyrolidino protonitazene was present. Nitazenes are a potent form of synthetic opioid and had not previously been identified in Ireland. A new nitazene screen has since been developed and will be added to as standards are received.

P.16 Hemp crops can only be grown in Ireland under licence from the HPRA and there is a requirement to inspect 30% of the area sown to ensure that the tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content of the crop does not exceed 0.3%. The State Laboratory analyses THC in hemp samples for DAFM and in cannabidiol (CBD) products seized by Revenue Customs Officers.  The State Laboratory is designated by the Department of Health as the testing laboratory for Ireland, for the purposes of carrying out testing on tobacco products as set out in EU legislation. The Laboratory analyses cigarettes for tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide. The Laboratory also supports the HSE Tobacco Control Network Support Unit by testing e-liquids and associated devices to ensure compliance with the Tobacco Product Directive (2014/40/EU). 

P.17 & 18 TOBACCO The Health Section continued to support the HSE Tobacco Control Network Support Unit through the analysis of e-liquid products for State Laboratory Annual Report 2023 nicotine concentration. New areas of support provided this year included the development of a new method for the determination of volume of e-liquid in disposable vaping cartridges, and the development of a GC-MS method for nontargeted analysis of flavour compounds in eliquids. The former was employed for approx. 70% of all e-liquid samples submitted for analysis, and has been submitted for accreditation, for assessment in early 2024.  As a result of nicotine analysis in 2023, 10 samples were seen as having limits in excess of the legislative limit, set in the Tobacco Products Directive, which resulted in the issuing of 5 European Safety RAPEX alerts. Sample Numbers for e-liquids have increased year-on-year, with a further increase expected in 2024. One limitation in meeting commitments to the client in this area is the lack of clarity on what harmful substances to focus on when further developing GC-MS methods for e-liquids.

CANNABINOIDS - Various sample-types are received from a variety of clients (Revenue, FSAI, DAFM) for analysis of cannabinoids including, but not limited to, delta-9 THC. From Revenue alone, three times as many samples were received for cannabinoid analysis in 2023, vs 2022. A number of these samples were found to contain delta-9 THC, in some cases in contradiction with the packaging or import documentation. Some samples required amendments to existing sample preparation processes to accommodate new sample matrices, e.g. CBD balm. To accommodate animal feed samples for which total delta-9 THC and CBD levels are going to be required, a new LC-MSMS method for the analysis of herbal/plant matrices was developed, which will be deployed for routine use in 2024. The Laboratory also carried out analysis of total delta-9 THC and moisture in hemp crops sampled by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. The number of samples for which this was done was down on previous years, predominantly due to wet weather causing issues with crops. 

P.19 PSILOCYBIN AND PSILOCIN - The Health Section received four times as many samples from Customs officers for drug analysis (other than cannabinoid analysis) in 2023 than in 2022. This has presented challenges to providing a good level of service to the client, as the requests are often for a full illicit drugs screen, rather than targeting of a specific analyte. As a result of this, varied test methods are required which represents a draw on resources and an unpredictable stream of samples to be tested with various methods. 2023 saw a marked increase in the number of samples for which analysis of psilocybin or psilocin analysis was requested.