Chapter 8 Toxicology: Poisons and Alcohol “All substances are poisons. There is none which is not. The right dose differentiates a poison and remedy.” —Paracelsus ( ). Swiss physician and chemist

Chapter 8Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company 1 Toxicology and Alcohol  Discuss the connection of blood alcohol levels to the law, incapacity, and test results.  Understand the vocabulary of poisons.  Design and conduct scientific investigations.  Use technology and mathematics to improve investigations and communications.  Identify questions and concepts that guide scientific investigations.  Communicate and defend a scientific argument. Students will be able to:

Chapter 8Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company 2 Toxicology Definition—the study of the adverse effects of chemicals or physical agents on living organisms. Types:  Environmental—air, water, soil  Consumer—foods, cosmetics, drugs  Medical, clinical, forensic

Chapter 8Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company 3 Uses of Forensic Toxicology  Postmortem—medical examiner or coroner  Criminal—motor vehicle accidents (MVA)  Workplace—drug testing  Sports—human and animal  Environment—industrial, catastrophic, terrorism

Chapter 8Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company 4 Toxicology Toxic substances may:  Be a cause of death  Contribute to death  Cause impairment  Explain behavior

Chapter 8Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company 5 Historical Perspective of Poisoners  Olympias—a famous Greek poisoner, mother of Alexander the Great ( BC)  Locusta—personal poisoner of Emperor Nero (54 AD)  Lucretia Borgia—father was Pope Alexander VI ( )  Catherine Medici- Queen of France poisoned political rivals, and experimented with poisons on the poor ( AD)  Madame Giulia Toffana—committed over 600 successful poisonings, including two Popes (1659 AD)  Hieronyma Spara—formed a society to teach women how to murder their husbands (1659 AD)  Madame de Brinvilliers and Catherine Deshayes—Convicted French witches poisoners. ( AD)

Chapter 8Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company 6 People of Historical Significance Mathieu Orfila—known as the father of forensic toxicology, published in 1814 “Traite des Poisons” which described the first systematic approach to the study of the chemistry and physiological nature of poisons.

Chapter 8Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company 7 Aspects of Toxicity  Dosage  The chemical or physical form of the substance  The mode of entry into the body  Body weight and physiological conditions of the victim, including age and sex  The time period of exposure  The presence of other chemicals in the body or in the dose

Chapter 8Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company 8 Lethal Dose  LD 50 —refers to the dose of a substance that kills half the test population, usually within four hours  Expressed in milligrams of substance per kilogram of body weight

Chapter 8Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company 9 Toxicity Classes LD 50 (rat,oral) Correlation to Ingestion by 150 lb Adult Human Toxicity <1mg/kga taste to a dropExtremely 1-50 mg/kgto a teaspoonhighly mg/kgto an ouncemoderately mg/kgto a pintslightly 5-15 g/kgto a quartPractically non-toxic Over 15g/kgmore than 1 quartRelatively harmless

Chapter 8Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company 10 Federal Regulatory Agencies  Food and Drug Administration (FDA)  Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)  Consumer Product Safety Commission  Department of Transportation (DOT)  Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

Chapter 8Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company 11 Symptoms of Various Types of Poisoning Type of PoisonSymptom/Evidence  Caustic Poison (lye)Characteristic burns around the lips and mouth of the victim  Carbon MonoxideRed or pink patches on the chest and thighs, unusually bright red lividity  Sulfuric acidBlack vomit  Hydrochloric acidGreenish-brown vomit  Nitric acidYellow vomit  PhosphorousCoffee brown vomit. Onion or garlic odor  CyanideBurnt almond odor  Arsenic, MercuryPronounced diarrhea  Methyl (wood) orNausea and vomiting, unconsciousness, Isopropyl (rubbing) alcoholpossibly blindness

Chapter 8Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company 12 Critical Information on Poisons  Form  Common color  Characteristic odor  Solubility  Taste  Common sources  Lethal dose  Mechanism  Possible methods of administration  Time interval of onset of symptoms.  Symptoms resulting from an acute exposure  Symptoms resulting from chronic exposure  Disease states mimicked by poisoning  Notes relating to the victim  Specimens from victim  Analytical detection methods  Known toxic levels  Notes pertinent to analysis of poison  List of cases in which poison was used —John Trestrail from “Criminal Poisoning”

Chapter 8Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company 13 To Prove a Case  Prove a crime was committed  Motive  Intent  Access to poison  Access to victim  Death was caused by poison  Death was homicidal

Chapter 8Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company 14 Forensic Autopsy Look for :  Irritated tissues  Characteristic odors  Mees lines—single transverse white bands on nails. Order toxicological screens  Postmortem concentrations should be done at the scene for comparison  No realistic calculation of dose can be made from a single measurement

Chapter 8Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company 15 People in the News John Trestrail is a practicing toxicologist who has consulted on many criminal poisoning cases. He is the founder of the Center for the Study of Criminal Poisoning in Grand Rapids, Michigan which has established an international database to receive and analyze reports of homicidal poisonings from around the world. He is also the director of DeVos Children’s Hospital Regional Poison Center. In addition, he wrote the book, Criminal Poisoning, used as a reference by law enforcement, forensic scientists and lawyers.

Chapter 8Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company 16 More Information Read more about Forensic Toxicology from Court TV’s Crime Library at: s/toxicology/2.html