Juana Belén, in charge of Chromatography at the lab at the governmental Institute for Innovation in Biotechnology and Industry (IIBI) says that while the lab has the equipment, it has yet to develop the method of analysis to certify the presence of fentanyl in a chemical substance. She told Diario Libre that likewise a product research fund would be needed to develop the research and train the personnel.
She confirmed that in June 2020 the IIBI had received the mass spectrometer and gas chromatograph, valued at RD$17.5 million that could carry out the tests. “We do not have the inputs, reagents or the technology assembled. We would need to train the personnel. We do not provide this service (fentanyl detection) because it has not been requested,” Belén, told Diario Libre.
She explained the chromatograph is only a separation method. After this separation, the substance must undergo a detection process, where the isotopic mass spectrometer could be used, which measures the different atomic weights of the elements, allowing differentiation between one substance and another.
Alda Diaz, in charge of research at the lab, said that we are talking about more than a million pesos to be ready to test for fentanyl in the Dominican Republic.
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Diario Libre
19 July 2023