Toxicology, forensic

Forensic Science South Australia, Adelaide, Australia Flinders University, Bedford Park, Australia 

Qiromatographic techniques are a vital component in the field of forensic toxicology. Their ability to separate components of a complex mixture assists in the identification of a wide range of chemical substances. Samples required for analysis are predominantly biological in nature, in particular, whole blood, urine, oral samples, and hair. 

Adding to these requirements, one must appreciate the scope of chemical substances that need to be covered by the forensic toxicologist. At the right dose, any chemical substance can cause toxicity and ultimately death. Chemical substances are so diverse in structure that it is illogical to expect that a single technique is capable of targeting all possible substances. It is not feasible for the forensic toxicologist to put into practice a process to cover an endless number of substances for every case that he or she is presented with. 

The forensic toxicologist is faced with the arduous task of screening a sample for the imknown. The laboratory therefore needs to be equipped with an efficient and effective process that is able to cover a broad spectrum of toxicologically relevant substances with adequate specificity. This process is commonly referred to as either general unknown screening or systematic toxicological analysis (STA). 

Solid—phase extraction (SPE) is an alternate technique ably suited for the extraction of a wide class of compounds from biological samples [2,3,9—11]. A nonselective recovery is achieved through the use of C8, C18, or polymeric-based sorbents. As the aqueous sample 

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Forensic science laboratories are generally divided into separate specialty areas. These typically include forensic toxicology, soHd-dose dmg testing, forensic serology, trace evidence analysis, firearms and tool mark examination, questioned documents examination, and latent fingerprint examination. Laboratories principally employ chemists, biochemists, and biologists at various degree levels. In some specialty areas, eg, firearms examination, questioned... 

The iaterpretation of forensic toxicology (18) results is often challenging. Courts frequently ask if an amount of dmg detected ia a specimen could cause a specific type of behavior, ie, would someone be under the influence of a dmg at a specific concentration, would a particular dmg concentration cause diminished capacity, or was the dmg the cause of death In a random employee dmg testing case, a worker screened positive for opiates by EMIT and gc/ms analysis of the urine specimen showed low levels of morphine. Although one possibiUty was that the iadividual was a heroia user, a review of foods eaten ia the prior 24 hours suggested a more innocent cause a poppy-seed bagel. 

R. H. Cravey and R. C. Baselt, Introduction to Forensic Toxicology, Biomedical PubHcations, Davis, Calif., 1981. 

A forensic toxicology laboratory. The young woman is working on a research project in the laboratory at Hartford Hospital. 

Gilbertson M. 1997. Great Lakes forensic toxicology and the implications for research and regulatory programs. Environ Toxicol Chem 16 1771-1778. 

Kage S, Nagata T, Kimura K, et al. 1992. Usefulness of thiosulfate as an indicator of hydrogen sulfide poisoning in forensic toxicological examination A study with animal experiments. Japanese Journal of Forensic Toxicology 10(3) 223-227. 

Fletcher, K. 1974. Paraquat poisoning. Pages 86-98 in B. Ballantyne (ed.). Forensic Toxicology. John Wright, Bristol, England. 

Applications of GC-MS or LC-MS techniques to forensic toxicology considerably reduced the volume of specimens necessary for analytical procedure. Recently, the volumes range from 0.2 to 1.0 mL. 

Figure 16.2. Schematic presentation of procedure for identification of chemical compounds and other traces for forensic toxicology or criminalistic purposes [4],...

P. Marquet. Progress of Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry in Clinical and Forensic Toxicology, Therapeutic Drug Monitoring, 24, no. 2, (2002). 

A. Skulska, M. Kala, A. Parczewski, Fentanyl and its Analogues in Clinical and Forensic Toxicology, Przeglad Lekarski, 62, 2005. 

Foreign uranium resources, 17 522 Foreman and Veatch cell, 9 664 Forensic analysts, certification of, 12 95 Forensic biology, 12 102-104 Forensic chemistry, 12 89-104 physical evidence in, 12 90-95 Forensic laboratories, local and state, 12 98 Forensics, liquid chromatography applications, 6 465 Forensic science laboratories, 12 95 Forensic science, supercritical fluid extraction in, 24 14 Forensic testing, 12 95-104 Forensic toxicology, interpretation of results in, 12 98... 

Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (gc/ms GC-MS), 4 616 6 381, 431 archaeological materials, 5 743 use in forensic toxicology, 12 91 Gas-controlled heat pipe, 73 234—235 Gas cracking furnaces, additives to, 10 609-610 Gas diffusion... 

Drummer OH, Horomidis S, Kourtis S, Syrjanen ML, Tippett P. 1994. Capillary gas chromatographic drug screen for use in forensic toxicology. J Anal Toxicol 18 134. 

Williams ML, Wainer IW. 2002. Role of chiral chromatography in therapeutic drug monitoring and in clinical and forensic toxicology. Ther Drug Monit 24 290. 

Drugs of abuse (review) Forensic toxicology, doping control and biomonitoring (review) Segura etal. (1998) Maurer (2002)... 

Maurer, H. H. Role of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry with negative ion chemical ionization in clinical and forensic toxicology, doping control, and biomonitoring. Then Drug Monit. 2002, 24, 247-254. 

LC/MS) applications in forensic toxicological analysis has increased markedly during... 

Hatakiyama et al. note that forensic toxicological analyses has increased in the past decade. 

Anderson RA, Harland WA. 1980. The analysis of volatiles in blood from fire fatalities. In Proceedings of the Forensic Toxicology European Meeting, Int Assoc Toxicol, 279-292. 

Lambert WE, VanBocxlaer JF, DeLeenheer AP. Potential of high-performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detection in forensic toxicology. Journal of Chromatography B 689, 45-53, 1997. 

Eight BDZs among the most frequently encountered in forensic toxicology (clonazepam, desal-kylflurazepam, diazepam, flunitrazepam, lorazepam, midazolam, nordiazepam and oxazepam) were determined in whole blood after solvent extraction with butyl chloride and fast isocratic separation using a C18 (100 x 4.6 mm x 5 (tm) column [61]. The mobile phase was composed of phosphate buffer (35mM, pH 2.1) and acetonitrile (70 30, v/v) and the flow rate was 2mL/min. Within less than 4 min of analysis time, the analytes could be successfully determined starting from therapeutic concentrations. Using HPLC coupled with APCI-MS-MS, Rivera et al. [62] set up a method for the detection of 18 BDZ and metabolites after butyl chloride extraction at alkaline pH in 0.5mL... 

Alkaloids are pharmaceutically active compounds contained in plants. Some of them exhibit also important toxic properties and may be encountered in forensic toxicology as a cause of accidental, suicidal, or homicidal poisonings. 

Gary W. Kunsman, Human Performance Toxicology, Chapter 2 in Principles of Forensic Toxicology, 13-30 and David Sandler, Expert and Opinion Testimony, Chapter 16 in Medical-Legal Aspects of Drugs, 399-437. 

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