Creation and Release of an Updated NIST DART-MS Forensics Database

Published

June 17, 2021

Author(s)

Edward Sisco, Arun Moorthy, Laura M. Watt

Abstract

Facing increasing caseloads and an everchanging drug landscape, forensic laboratories have been implementing new analytical tools. Direct analysis in real time mass spectrometry (DART-MS) is often one of these tools because it provides a wealth of information from a rapid, simple analysis. The data produced by these systems, while extremely useful, can be difficult to interpret, especially in the case of complex mixtures. Mass spectral databases are therefore often used to assist in interpretation of data. Development of these databases can be expensive and time-consuming, and often rely on manual curation of the underlying data. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released an initial DART-MS mass spectral database for seized drugs in the early 2010's but did not update the database to reflect the increasing prevalence of novel psychoactive substances. Recently, efforts to update the database have been undertaken. To assist in development of the database, an automated data curation process was also created. This manuscript describes the new NIST DART-MS Forensics Database and the steps taken to automate the data curation process.

Citation

Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry

Volume

32

Issue

3

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1021/jasms.0c00416

Local Download

Keywords

DART-MS, Database, Library, Seized Drugs, Data Curation

Citation

Sisco, E. , Moorthy, A. and Watt, L. (2021), Creation and Release of an Updated NIST DART-MS Forensics Database, Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry, [online], https://doi.org/10.1021/jasms.0c00416, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=931179 (Accessed October 25, 2025)