FORENSIC TOXICOLOGY
Examination of all aspects of toxicity that may have legal implications
Toxicology Laboratory Service Area
Toxicology - what is it?
   The study of the nature, effects, and detection of poisons and the treatment of poisoning.
What is a Poison?
•	Poison:  Any substance that causes injury, illness, or death especially by chemical means.

FORENSIC TOXICOLOGY
•	Unique sub discipline of toxicology
–	Occupational – chemical hazards in the work place
–	Environmental – Toxic chemicals in nature (usually man-made)
Divisions of Forensic Tox
•	Postmortem Drug Testing
•	Workplace Drug Testing
•	Investigation of Contraband Materials
Postmortem Drug Testing
Establish whether drugs were the cause or contributing factor in a death.
•	Many fatalities are caused by accidental or intentional overdose
•	Assists the For. Path. to determine cause
•	For. Tox. looks for a wide variety of toxins in multiple organs (brain, liver, heart) and in fluid samples (blood and urine)
Workplace Drug Testing
Evaluation of biofluids, primarily urine and blood, for drug content
•	Law allows random drug testing only for specific occupations
–	i.e., police officers, public officers, etc.
•	Pre-employment testing – Why?

Evaluation of Contraband
•	Material suspected to be contraband must be proven to be an illicit substance
•	Rapid, portable tests are carried in the field and confirmed in the laboratory

The testing process….
Specimen Collection and analysis
BLOOD
URINE
GASTRIC CONTENTS
VITREOUS HUMOR
BILE AND LIVER
•	Organ most heavily involved in drug metabolism. May allow identification of drug type.
HAIR
Approach to Forensic
 Drug Testing
Step 1 -- Screen
Step 2 -- Confirmation
Screening Test
•	“Initial test”
•	 No false negatives
•	 Easy to perform
•	 Automated analysis
•	 Inexpensive
  Screening
•	Immunoassay – antibodies
–	Reagent recognizes and reacts with specific antibody
–	Laboratory-based
–	On-site
•	Thin Layer Chromatography

Confirmation Analysis
•	Utilizes a second analytical procedure
•	Increased specificity
•	Increased sensitivity
•	No false positive results