Researchers at the University of Zurich have identified a new biomarker that can detect the presence of GHB, nicknamed the “rape drug,” in urine up to 72 hours after consumption, thus significantly extending the detection window for this substance.
“The usual detection window is around six hours in blood and twelve hours in urine,” explains the research team of Dr. Andrea Steuer, from the Forensic Institute of the University of Zurich, in a press release, emphasizing that every hour counts with current methods for detecting this drug used “to render victims unconscious.”
A new biomarker detected
In 2021, the team of researchers identified a new biomarker, a compound of Gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) and sugar, designated as GHB-pentose. “Unlike GHB itself, this biomarker remains detectable for longer in the urine after taking,” the press release states.
In a study, published Tuesday, researchers analyzed 2,414 anonymized urine samples, from real forensic files, taken between 2024 and 2026.
During these tests, fourteen samples “proved to be particularly useful”, since “the levels of GHB measured were below the threshold set” for the analysts, but “GHB-pentose was still detected”, indicates the press release.
“In eight of these fourteen cases, the details of the files supported the suspicion that GHB had been consumed or administered previously,” he explains.
“These included three alleged criminal offenses – two thefts and an alleged sexual assault – in which the urine samples were not taken until 13 to 16 hours later,” the statement added.
Their work established that this biomarker can indicate previous use of GHB even when the substance is no longer detectable by traditional analysis methods.
On its website, the OFS explains that GHB is one of the substances “ideal candidates for malicious use”.
It is one of the “practically odorless”, “water-miscible” substances which “go unnoticed in a drink”, with “a euphoric effect which manifests itself very quickly, already after 15 minutes, and evolves towards a state of fatigue”. When they wake up, victims often no longer remember what happened to them, says the ministry.
