by For decades, “Protect your drink” has been one of the fundamental unofficial rules of nightlife. The threat to unconsciously consume a date rape is so great that steps to combat that risk have become a routine part of every evening. There are even new products that are specially designed to defend against having a drink.
That level of zeal is unfortunately necessary. Although the nature of the drug drugs makes it difficult to keep track of how often they are used, evidence suggests that millions of people are sexually abused every year after consuming drugs they involuntarily took.
Researchers in Korea have come up with a simple and effective idea that they hope will give people an easy new way to protect themselves. It is a temporary tattoo that can immediately detect the presence of one of the most common drugs for a date with a single drop of a suspicious drink. The tattoo is made with a mix with a chemical receptor that responds to even small amounts of gamma-hydroxy butter acid (GHB)-a odorless, tasteless medicine that is often used in what authorities call drug-oriented sexual violence.
When the tattoo comes into contact with GHB, it turns into red color of yellow, which offers a clear indication within a second that has tampered with a drink.
There are other products on the market that can be used to test drinks on GHB, along with other date of adjustment medicines such as Rohypnol and Ketamine, but they are difficult to use discreetly and can last up to five minutes to deliver results. Someone who wears one of the tattoos, on the other hand, can easily immerse his finger in his drink, touch the tattoo and immediately know if it has been tampered with. All this can be done in secret because the tattoos can be made in any form, so their true goal will not be clear to the people around you. The researchers behind the tattoos hope that their innovation will offer a “proactive and accessible solution” one day with which people can easily and subtly protect themselves.
This tattoo-like sticker, which can be printed in different designs, detects the presence of a medicine that is often used to “peak” drinks-the letters are red when exposed to them. (ACS -sensors 2025, DOI: 10.1021/ACSSSENSORS.4C03737)
According to a study published in the scientific journal ACS sensors, the tattoos were consistently able to detect small quantities of GHB – only 0.01 micrograms in 1 milliliter liquid – in different drinks, including whiskey, vodka, coffee and soy) (a popular Korean).
The tattoos can also prove to be useful after an attack has occurred, the researchers say. Authorities often struggle to determine whether a victim has consumed a “spiked” drink, because common date-adjusting drugs are not detectable within a few hours in someone’s system and can often only be verified by a professional laboratory. But the tattoos can show a positive result for up to 30 days, which according to the researchers “may be important if it is necessary as a form of proof of tampering.”
Until now, the tattoos have only been tested with GHB, but the researchers say that the same system can probably be used to detect other medicines if different chemical receptors are added.
It is unclear when the tattoos may be available to the public, but the researchers said that a commercial product could soon be on the market because the tattoos are cheap and easy to produce.
