UBCO research team working on THC roadside breathalyzer

THC roadside breathalyzers could soon be available, thanks to research at UBC Okanagan. 

Prof. Mina Hoorfar, who runs UBCO’s Advanced Thermo-Fluidic Lab, has been working on a device for over five years using her ‘artificial nose’ technology – creating microfabrication appliances that are able to recognize hazardous molecules.

The sensors can be fine-tuned to catch even the faintest amounts of targeted materials.

“Advances in microfabrication and nanotechnologies are enabling us to work at a smaller scale and with improved sensitivity,” explains Hoorfar. “We have responded to a need from regulators in North America to develop tools to accurately monitor tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), and the artificial nose lends itself to this application.”

Hoorfar is collaborating with Cannabix Technologies to commercialize a marijuana breathalyzer device for law enforcement.

"The legalization of marijuana here in Canada, it's been very important for us to develop solutions for the market and for the law enforcement for breath analysis of THC," explains Nishat Tasnim, research lab manager for the Advanced Thermo-Fluidic Lab at UBCO. 

If THC is consumed during smoking, some particles will be deposited on lung tissues. Which can be removed by exhalation and detected in breath – even three to six hours after someone has inhaled cannabis.

"We want to be able to engineer a solution that able to detect this THC in people's breath for public safety and law enforcement purposes," adds Tasnim. 

In addition to her own technology, Hoorfar recently supervised a study of the five leading styles of THC breathalyzers that are either currently commercialized or under development.

"We definitely want to be pioneers in these technologies, and we work very hard in order to make sure the future breath analysis incorporates the devices that are being developed here in this lab by our students," says Tasnim.
 
UBCO could be the first to create a THC breathalyzer – but they want to ensure the best and most reliable product before hitting the market. 

“Despite its large potential, breath analysis still has several technical difficulties,” says Hamed Mirzaei, a doctoral student at UBCO.

“A healthy person can exhale a complex mixture of inorganic gases and many of these chemicals are from sources such as smoking, food consumption, bacterial microflora, work environments and medication.”

Diet, age, body mass index, gender and how a person consumes the drug can also influence the exact composition of a person’s breath, Mirzaei adds.

UBCO will be doing road tests next month to validate its approach and get one step closer to finalizing designs for commercial use.