In the future, EPO doping will be detected via breath gas analysis using Faraday rotation spectroscopy, a type of IR spectroscopy.
The red blood pigment hemoglobin binds the oxygen in the breath and transports it to the cells where it is needed for energy production. The higher the total hemoglobin mass (tHb), the higher the body’s maximum oxygen absorption capacity and the better its endurance performance. Endurance athletes, therefore, strive to achieve particularly high tHb values.
One way to achieve this is the intake of erythropoietin – EPO for short – which is a hormone that promotes the development of red blood cells and thus also increases the tHb value. In addition to various preparations, autologous blood is now also used for doping. This wealth of variety makes it very difficult to detect doping.
Since synthetic EPO can only be detected in urine samples for a limited amount of time, researchers are increasingly relying on breath gas analysis. With the help of tracer gases such as carbon monoxide or 15NO nitric oxide, the hemoglobin concentration can be measured via IR spectroscopy.
Technically speaking, the measurement method is referred to as Faraday rotation spectroscopy, which is a special type of dispersion spectroscopy.
