Forensic Toxicology
• Definition:
• The science of detecting and identifying the
presence of drugs and poisons in body fluids,
tissues, and organs.
Toxicology
• Study of poisons or the detection of foreign
substances in the body that can have a toxic
effect such as:
• Alcohol
• Industrial chemicals
• Poisonous gases
• Illegal drugs
• Drug overdoses
TOXICOLOGY
• TYPES:
• Environmental– air, water, soil
• Consumer– foods. Cosmetics, drugs
• Medical, clinical, forensic
Intoxicant vs. poison
• An Intoxicant, such as alcohol or carbon
monoxide, requires that you ingest a large
amount to be lethal.
• A true Poison, such as cyanide, requires only a
very small amount
Drugs and Crime
• Drug: a natural or synthetic substance
designed to affect the subject psychologically
or physiologically.
• Controlled substance: drugs that are restricted
by law
• Controlled substances Act: enacted in 1970
lists illegal drugs, their cateogory and their
penalty for possession, sale or use.
Toxicology plays a part in forensics at three
levels
1. A criminalist may be asked to see if a person's
behaviour has been influenced by a drug.
2. A forensic team may examine evidence to see
whether a suspect has been manufacturing
illicit compounds.
3. Forensic experts will look for evidence that at
toxic substance has killed a person.
Role of the Toxicologist
• Must identify one of thousands of drugs and
poisons
• Must find nanogram to microgram quantities
dissipated throughout the entire body
• Not always looking for exact chemicals, but
metabolites of desired chemicals (ex. heroin
morphine within seconds)
History
• The father of toxicology was a guy named
Mathieu Orfila. His work was mainly centered
on arsenic; the poison of choice in the early
1800’s. it was readily available in rat poison
and was the favourite means of murder
among the poor people.
biotransformation
When chemical enters the body, the body
react by breaking it down in order to eliminate
it. So, if you have injected something like
heroin, the body will break it down into the
morphine originally used to produce it.
Hunting for heroin is futile but if you find
morphine you have found signs of heroin.
These products are called metabolites.
• PARENT DRUG • METABOLIZES TO
Amphetamine Amphetamine
Methamphetamine Amphetamine
Cocaine Benzoylecgonine,
Marijuana Norcocaine
Hydrocodone Carboxy – THC
Oxycodone Hydromorphone
Heroin Oxymorphone
6-acetylmorphine
What are some other common poisons?
• Cyanide- one of the most lethal chemicals
known..used for executions..causes a bright
cherry red blood.
• Strychnine-rat poisons..causes so much pain
that it is rarely used in suicide
• Ethylene glycol- antifreeze..a favourite
(deadly) beverage among alcoholics when
they cant get ethanol
Cont…
• Heavy metals- arsenic mercury and lead
• Insulin-lifesaving for diabetic but deadly
overdoses
• Corrosive chemicals-strong alkalis (NaOH) or
acids ( HCL, H2SO4)..Burn the mouth, esophagus,
and stomach.
Best tissues to sample for poisons
• Blood- most useful tool will show chemicals
and its metabolites. Blood levels show what
was going on in the body at the time of death.
• Urine- easy to obtain. High concentrations.
Kidneys are along the elimination route
• Stomach contents- digestion stops at the
moment of death.
cont….
• Liver- the toxin sponge of your body can
reflects levels of toxins that even the blood
may not reveal
• Vitreous humor- eyeball fluid very slow to
decay so will retain toxins even longer then
most other organs
• Hair- chemicals take above five days to show
up in the core of hair shafts.
What are the clues?
• Ingested toxins show up in the stomach, intestines,
or liver.
• Inhaled gases are concentrated in the lungs.
• Toxins that are injected intramuscularly concentrate
themselves around the injection site.
• Drugs that are given intravenously are directly
absorbed into the blood by passing the stomach and
liver. Concentrations are found throughout the body
, are low in the stomach and liver and high in the
blood stream.
Let’s talk about alcohol…..
Do not try this…..
Alcohol facts
• The most commonly abused drug
• Blood-alcohol levels are directly proportional
to the degree of intoxication and are
expressed in grams percent ( no. of grams of
alcohol/100 ml blood)
• Acts on the CNS favouring the brain
• Blood carries alcohol all cells of your body but
mostly to the watery areas of your body
Pathway of Alcohol
• The route taken by alcohol during consumption is as follows:
1. Mouth & Esophagus – alcohol is diluted by saliva before being swallowed.
Some is immediately absorbed
2. Stomach – more alcohol is absorbed here, irritating the lining of the stomach
and increasing the acidity
3. Small Intestine – any remaining alcohol is passed here and is the site of most
alcohol absorption
4. Bloodstream – alcohol quickly diffuses through the body, affecting almost all
cells
5.Brain - these cells are more susceptible because they are usually protected from
toxins by the blood-brain barrier
6. Liver – blood-alcohol is metabolized in two stages and then respired into CO2,
H2O, and fatty acids.
7. Excretion via urine, the lungs, and sweat.
Metabolism
• The metabolism of alcohol is the process in
which the body converts alcohol into a less toxic
substance.
• Alcohol metabolism (processing) has three steps
1. Consumption – getting the liquid into your body
2. Absorption – absorbing the alcohol into your bloodstream
3. Processing – converting the I) alcohol into
II) acetaldehyde , then III) acetate (or acetic acid) and finally
into fatty acids, carbon dioxide, and water
Processing
• Alcohol is processed by the liver as it arrives from the bloodstream
• The liver produces enzymes called alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and aldehyde
dehydrogenase (ALDH).
– Alcohol metabolism via ADH produces a secondary product more toxic
than alcohol itself – acetaldehyde
• Acetaldehyde is then converted into acetate by ALDH
• Acetate is digested into fatty acids, CO2,
and water
– Fatty acids, when digested, create
7 calories per gram of alcohol
Effects of Alcohol
• Flushing (Red-Faced)
Impaired Judgment
Disrupted Balance
• Amnesia Nausea, & Dehydration
• Anxiety
• Increased Urination
Toxicology Procedures
• Screening-
– quick test to narrow down possibilities
– color tests, TLC, GC, immunoassay
• Confirmation-
– determines exact identity
– GC/Mass Spectrometry
Note: TLC—thin layer
chromatography
Color Tests
• Marquis Test:
– Turns purple in the presence of Heroin, morphine, opium
– Turns orange-brown in presence of Amphetamines
• Scott Test: Three solutions
– Blue then pink then back to blue in the presence of
Cocaine
• Duquenois-Levine:
– Test for marijuana –turns purple
More Analytical Tests
• Microcrystalline Tests: Identifies drug by using
chemicals that reacts to produce characteristic
crystals
• Chromatography: TLC, HPLC and gas –
separate drugs/tentative ID
• Mass Spectrometry: chemical “fingerprint” no
two drugs fragment the same
Microcrystalline Testing
• In this technique, a small amount of an
isolated sample is combined with a specific
chemical reagent. If a certain drug or poison is
present, a chemical reaction occurs, producing
a crystalline precipitate. The crystalline
structure and colour vary according to the
drug or poison being tested. After the
precipitate has formed, it may be analyzed
under a microscope to confirm its identity.
Immunoassay Testing
• Immunoassay testing identifies and measures
the level of a drug or poison in an isolated
sample. It uses the chemical reactions
of antibodies to their specific antigens.
Immunoassay testing is common because it is
able to detect and accurately determine the
concentration of the drug or poison in an
isolated sample.
Cont…
• Antibodies for drugs and poisons are produced in
animal test subjects by combining the drug or
poison with a protein to produce a drug-protein
complex. Then, this is injected into the animal
where it is perceived by the animal’s immune
system as an antigen. Consequently, the animal�
immune systems produces specific antibodies
against this complex. Then, these antibodies are
collected from the blood of the animal and used in
immunoassay testing.
Gas Chromatography
• Gas chromatography separates an isolated
drug or poison sample into its distinctive
component chemical parts. Gas
chromatography is common because it is
accurate and fast. Each drug or poison creates
a predictable and distinctive peak or series of
peaks that emerge at predictable times.
Cont…
• Therefore, each can be identified easily in a
chromatogram. The quantity of the individual
drug or poison corresponds to the height of
the peak(s) on the chromatogram. Thus, the
higher the peak(s), the higher the
concentration of drug or poison within the
individual sample.
Mass Spectrometry
• Every drug or poison produces a distinct
fragmentation pattern according to its unique
individual chemical structure. No two patterns
are exactly alike. Because of this, the results of
mass spectrometry are highly accurate. Mass
spectrometry is an excellent way to confirm
the presence of a particular drug or poison.
Thin Layer Chromatography
• An adaptation of thin-layer chromatography for the
isolation and identification of a number of the
commercially available barbiturates and
nonbarbiturate hypnotics is described. The method is
rapid, inexpensive and simple. The hypnotics are
extracted directly from urine, blood or tissue
homogenate, without prior precipitation of proteins,
into methylene chloride at pH 5.0. After evaporation of
the extracting solvent, the drugs are taken up in a
small volume of ethanol and spotted on thin-layer
chromatoplates.
