4d ago

Temporary tattoo can instantly test drinks for unwanted drugs: study

www.ctvnews.ca

Published Wednesday by the American Chemical Society (ACS), the study from Korean researchers developed a multicoloured temporary tattoo that reacts to the presence of GHB, a compound described as “commonly associated with drug-facilitated sexual assault.”

According to the study, the chemicals in the tattoo can detect concentrations of GHB in beer, liquor or coffee, changing colour from yellow to red in order to alert the wearer that their beverage may have been spiked.

“In practice, a wearer could dip a finger into a beverage, touch the drop to the sticker and see the result almost immediately,” the release reads.

The newly developed tattoos not only allow the users to test their drinks discreetly, but also act far faster than some older tests, delivering results in less than a second, rather than minutes.

Researchers also say the results last for up to a month, which can help preserve evidence of suspected tampering.

Also direct link to ACS

https://www.acs.org/pressroom/presspacs/2025/july/this-temporary-tattoo-could-detect-an-unwanted-drug-in-your-drink.html

19 comments

Ha, this was invented by a fanfiction character years ago, except it was nail polish instead of a temporary tattoo. https://www.tthfanfic.org/Story-30822-90 :
Hermione volunteered that there were chemicals which could detect the presence of most of the ‘date rape’ drugs, but Pansy scoffed, “Oh, and we just carry a dozen bottles of liquids in our purse and perform complicated tests on every drink we every get?”
That was a really good point. Hermione found her lips were pursing up as she thought it over. “I think… I could come up with a chemical you could put in a nail polish that would change the colour of your polish if exposed to benzodiazepines. So all you’d have to do would be to swirl your drink around with the tip of your index finger and then casually glance over to see if your nail polish was changing colour.”
That was met with a second of dead silence… And then the room exploded and everyone including Pet was begging her for a sample. Even Lady Pansy. Perhaps Hermione wasn’t going to the right clubs – or in this case the wrong clubs – but she hadn’t dreamed there would be that kind of demand for such a thing.
Granted, Hermione didn’t go out at night to any clubs, not even with her friends back home.
She actually makes the stuff later in the story.
- Nail polish such as that has existed IRL.
  https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/08/26/students-develop-nail-polish-to-detect-date-rape-drugs/
Very cool that it exists. Very sad that it's needed.
They can detect GHB now? Cool, only 10-20 years after it fell out of favor as a date rape drug
- GHB might not be as common as it used to be, but it's still used and this tech could pave the way for tattoos that detect benzos and other more prevalent drugs - the chemical detection principle is what's cool here tbh.
- I mean, you are free to go into the lab and research your own selectively recognising, non-toxic, stable, easy to use chemical. Shouldn't take you long since you are such an expert.
  
  TIL that only experts in a field can offer criticism of that topic!
  
  I mean I am an expert in this sort of thing and I agree this is kind of a dumb idea. The innovation here is not the production of a color changing indicator, but rather putting it in a temporary tattoo. The indicator has existed for some time, and is well studied. The temporary tattoo thing is cool, but I question whether the additional cost and complexity of using it this way is worth it over existing technology, such as paper test strips. The criticism that it only tests for a specific, not commonly used drug is also valid because even though it is complicated to make something that tests for multiple drugs is far more complicated, not testing for the most commonly used drugs can create a false sense of security. It's like if you went to a big concert and security was outside only checking for swords and knives and not guns. Yeah those things are also dangerous but it's not the biggest threat. To further the analogy, imagine if a decent subset of people believed the security guards were checking for guns but weren't. That would be pretty bad right? I can't imagine the anti date rape temporary tattoo wouldn't be misunderstood to test for a wide variety of drugs or at the very least the most common ones by at least a decent chunk of people trying to use it.
- Its still heavily used according to somewhat recent studies afaik. I dont remember where i read it sadly.
This feels like a a product in search of a market rather than a product designed to solve a problem. I mean yeah it's a cool thing but realistically do they expect people to buy (or be given) these temporary tattoos, remember to apply them before a night out, and then subtly drip bits of their drinks on their skin before drinking them to avoid getting drugged? Do the tattoos actually stay on during a night of dancing and sweating?
This is a bad product with a bad design that "solves" a problem in a convoluted and silly way that could just as easily be solved with a paper card or strip with the color changing indicator on it that you can use to test your drinks and just keep in your purse or pocket without having to remember to apply it or worry about it rubbing off. Maybe this could find use as something for a spy to wear to subtly detect poison but even that requires a healthy stretch of the imagination.
- It doesn't require digging out a test strip or card, it's impossible to misplace or not have immediately on hand, and it doesn't scream "Hang on a second, I'm just checking to make sure you're not trying to drug and rape me."
  
  it's impossible to misplace or not have on hand
  That was a big part of my criticism - it is convoluted to use and remember, and it kind of does scream that because you still have to do something weird and potentially noticeable to do the test. I am not criticizing the fact that tests that are designed to be subtle exist. I just think this particular one is kind of a stupid idea. There's a reason it's being reported on by a chemistry journal rather than a medical or business journal - it's simply not a viable product when compared to existing technologies, even if it's a cool technology.
- I don't find it bad product, but rather discreet.
  
  It's not though. Sticking your finger in your drink or pouring it onto yourself is not any more subtle than doing that with or on a test strip, and furthermore, this is a much more expensive and convoluted alternative to the test strip which can't be ignored.
Oh, that's why venues are often filled with coloured lights

19 comments