1. TOXICOLOGY

2. Toxicology Definition: science of detecting, isolating, purifying, and
identifying toxic chemicals, usually from biological
materials like body fluids, tissues, organs, etc.
Forensic Toxicology: matters that pertain to violations
of criminal law
History: 1000 years ago - search for means to detect poison
1840 U.S. courts admitted chemist’s testimony

3. TYPES OF CASES A. Product Tampering First Case: 1982,Chicago
7 people died
Tylenol laced with cyanide
$100,000 reward is unclaimed
Wave of copycat tamperings
afterwards

4. B. POISONS
Definition: anything harmful to the biological system
“the dose is the poison”
Criminal use: generally use small amounts in food/drink
simple to use; effective
difficult to detect and trace back to killer
Common poisons:
Arsenic - stomach cramps and vomiting
CO - dizziness and nausea
morphine - pupils of eyes contract
cyanide - faint odor of bitter almonds

5. DRUGS
Definition: natural/synthetic substance used to produce
physiological/psychological effects
May be the primary OR the secondary cause of death
Classification:
Opiates:
Narcotic sedatives: produce sleep
Analgesics: bring relief from pain
Stimulants: increase CNS activity & alertness
(e.g. caffeine, nicotine, cocaine, amphetamines)
c. Hallucinogens: cause alteration in normal
thought processes, perceptions and moods
d. Depressants: slow the CNS; relaxation; loss of coordination (e.g. alcohol, inhalants, sedatives, general anesthetics)
e. Anabolic Steroids: chemically related to testosterone

6. Depressants:
Alcohol(ethyl alcohol)
absorbed into bloodstream
distributed throughout body’s water
select water-rich organ or fluid to test
brain, cerebrospinal fluid, vitreous humor
- eliminated from the body
oxidation in the liver
excretion: unchanged in breath, urine, sweat
- amt of alcohol exhaled directly proportional
to concentration of alcohol in blood (BAC)

7. Drug Identification Use of Physicians Desk Reference (PDR)
Screening Tests
1. Color Tests - see handout
2. Microcrystalline tests
3. Thin layer chromatography (TLC)

8. Confirmatory Tests
1. Infrared spectrophotometry
2. Gas chromatograph/mass spectrometry (GC/MS)

9. Drug Control Laws Penalties: may depend on weight or concentration
U.S. Federal Law: Controlled Substances Act (see handout)
5 schedules of classification on basis of
Drug’s potential for abuse
Potential for physical and psychological dependence
Medical value

10. Case Example: Elvis Presley
Initial report: death due to cardiac arrhythmia
Final reports: died from taking acceptable doses of too many similarly acting drugs - POLYPHARMACY