Inc. (North York, ON, Canada) and hexobarbital, used as an internal standard (IS),
was obtained from Sigma-Aldrich (Gillingham, Dorset, UK). LC-MS grade acetonitrile
was obtained from Fisher scientific (Loughborough, Leicestershire, UK), methanol
from VWR International (Lutterworth, Leicestershire, UK) and water was produced from
an Elga Option 4 water purifier (Elga Labwater, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, UK)
and was further purified to 18.2 MΩ with a Purelab Classic UVF (Elga
LabWater, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, UK). Whatman 903 Protein Saver cards were
obtained from Scientific Laboratory Supplies (Hessle, East Yorkshire, UK). Blank
breast milk samples were obtained (with ethics approval) from Wirral Mothers’
Milk Bank, Clatterbridge Hospital, Wirral, UK and whole blood was obtained from
drug-free healthy volunteers.