1. Toxicology
Toxicology—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

2. Forensic Toxicology Postmortem—medical examiner or coroner
Criminal—motor vehicle accidents (MVA)
Workplace—drug testing
Sports—human and animal
Environment—industrial, catastrophic, terrorism

3. Toxicology Toxic substances may: Be a cause of death
Contribute to death
Cause impairment
Explain behavior

4. Historical Perspective of Poisoners
Olympias—a famous Greek poisoner
Locusta—personal poisoner of Emperor Nero
Lucretia Borgia—father was Pope Alexander VI
Madame Giulia Toffana—committed over 600 successful poisonings, including two popes
Hieronyma Spara—formed a society to teach women how to murder their husbands
Madame de Brinvilliers and Catherine Deshayes—French poisoners.

5. People of Historical Significance
Mathieu Orfila—known as the father of forensic toxicology, published in 1814 Traité des poisons which described the first systematic approach to the study of the chemistry and physiological nature of poisons

6. 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

7. Lethal Dose
LD50 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

8. Toxicity Classification
LD50 (rat,oral)
Correlation to Ingestion by 150-lb Adult Human
Toxicity
<1 mg/kg
a taste to a drop
extreme
1–50 mg/kg
to a teaspoon
high
50–500 mg/kg
to an ounce
moderate
500–5,000 mg/kg
to a pint
slight
5–15 g/kg
to a quart
practically nontoxic
Over 15 g/kg
more than 1 quart
relatively harmless

9. 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)

10. Summary Questions: Read p. 208-214
What is Clostridium botulinum commonly used for today?
Explain hormesis?
How was Socrates poisoned?
What were the common poisons during the European Renaissance?
What was the importance of Mathieu Orfila’s 1814 book “Traite des poisons”?
Explain how the Marsh test was used in the 1840 trial of Marie Lafarge.
Define chronic exposure.
Define acute toxicity.
How does synergism affect a substance?
How does antagonism affect a substance?
A lady is lying in bed & she is dead. Beside her is a pool of liquid & two pieces of wood. How did she die?
Why is estimating lethal doses in humans very difficult?
What is the lethal dose of nicotine in humans? Dogs?
In Dec. 2004, how was Viktor Yushchenko (Ukranian Presidential candidate) poisoned?
What is the LD50 in humans for Clostridium botulinum?
Explain how Aleksandr Litvinenko was poisoned KGB operatives.
What are some of the influences on the effect of poisons and toxins on the body?
Why does arsenic accumulate in hair and fingernails?
What is the LD50 of table salt for a 180-lb man? What would it be for MgCl2 (epson salt)? For NiCl2? Why is there such a difference?
What is LD100?

11. Lead Poisoning:
Lead compounds are not highly poisonous. But chronic exposure to lead poses a real health problem.
Most common exposure is contact with lead-based paints (Banned in 1978).
Lead-based paints taste sweet. A teething child will often lick and chew the paint.

12. Symptoms of Various Types of Poisoning
Type of Poison
Symptom/Evidence
Caustic Poison (lye)
Burns around lips & mouth of victim
Carbon monoxide
Red or pink patches on chest & thigh, unusually bright red lividity
Sulfuric acid
Black vomit
Hydrochloric acid
Greenish-brown vomit
Nitric acid
Yellow vomit
Phosphorus
Coffee-brown vomit, onion or garlic odor
Cyanide
Burnt almond odor
Arsenic, mercury
Extreme diarrhea
Methyl (wood) or isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol
Nausea & vomiting, unconsciousness, blindness

13. Critical Information Form Symptoms resulting from an acute exposure
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

14. To Prove a Case Prove a crime was committed Motive Intent
Access to poison
Access to victim
Death was homicidal
Death was caused by poison

15. 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.

16. Human Specimens for Analysis
Blood
Urine
Vitreous humor of eyes
Bile
Gastric contents
Liver tissue
Brain tissue
Kidney tissue
Hair/nails

17. Summary Questions: Read p. 214-219
How can you determine whether there is lead in paint?
What are three other sources of lead in the everyday environment?
Describe how Georgi Markov was killed? What did his autopsy reveal?
Some elements are naturally radioactive; that is they have either no stable isotopes or have one or more radioactive isotopes. List three common ones.
What are the three types of particles emitted by radioactive substances? Which one is stopped most easily? Why?
Would Litvinenko have died if he had merely spilled tea laced with Po-210 on his shirt?

18. Alcohol - Ethyl Alcohol (C2H5OH)
Most abused drug in America
About 40 percent of all traffic deaths are alcohol-related
Toxic—affecting the central nervous system, especially the brain
Colorless liquid, generally diluted in water
Acts as a depressant
Alcohol appears in blood within minutes of consumption; 30–90 minutes for full absorption
Detoxification—about 90 percent in the liver
About 5 percent is excreted unchanged in breath, perspiration, and urine

19. Rate of Absorption Depends on: Amount of alcohol consumed
The alcohol content of the beverage
Time taken to consume it
Quantity and type of food present in the stomach
Physiology of the consumer

20. BAC: Blood Alcohol Content
Expressed as percent weight per volume of blood
Legal limit in all states is 0.08 percent
Parameters influencing BAC:
Body weight
Alcohol content
Number of beverages consumed
Time since consumption

21. BAC Calculation Burn-off rate of 0.015 percent per hour, but can vary:
Male
BAC =  (oz)  (% alcohol)
body weight
Female
BAC =  (oz)  (% alcohol)

22. Henry’s Law
When a volatile chemical is dissolved in a liquid and is brought to equilibrium with air, there is a fixed ratio between the concentration of the volatile compound in the air and its concentration in the liquid; this ratio is constant for a given temperature. THEREFORE, the concentration of alcohol in breath is proportional to that in the blood.
This ratio of alcohol in the blood to alcohol in the alveolar air is approximately 2,100 to 1. In other words, 1 ml of blood will contain nearly the same amount of alcohol as 2,100 ml of breath.

23. Field Tests
Preliminary tests—used to determine the degree of suspect’s physical impairment and whether or not another test is justified
Psychophysical tests—three basic tests:

24. Horizontal gaze nystagmus (HGN): follow a pen or small flashlight, tracking left to right with one’s eyes. In general, wavering at 45 degrees indicates 0.10 BAC.

25. Nine-step walk and turn (WAT): comprehend and execute two or more simple instructions at one time

26. One-leg stand (OLS): maintain balance; comprehend and execute two or more simple instructions at one time

27. The Breathalyzer More practical in the field
Collects and measures alcohol content of alveolar breath
Breath sample mixes with 3 ml of percent K2Cr2O7 in sulfuric acid and water: 2K2Cr2O7 +3C2H5OH + 8H2SO4  2Cr2(SO4)3 + 2K2SO4 + 3CH3COOH + 11H2O
Potassium dichromate is yellow; as concentration decreases, its light absorption diminishes, so the breathalyzer indirectly measures alcohol concentration by measuring light absorption of potassium dichromate before and after the reaction with alcohol.

28. During absorption, the concentration of alcohol in arterial blood is higher than in venous blood.
Breath tests reflect alcohol concentration in the pulmonary artery.
The breathalyzer also can react with acetone (as found in diabetics), acetaldehyde, methanol, isopropyl alcohol, and paraldehyde, but these are toxic and their presence means the person is in serious medical condition.
Breathalyzers now use an infrared light-absorption device with a digital readout. Prints out a card for a permanent record.

29. Summary Questions: Read p. 220-225. Define DUI?
What is the rate of absorption of alcohol dependent upon?
What is the BAC limit for alcohol?
How much alcohol is metabolized in the liver?
What is alcohol’s average rate of removal from the body?
How do you calculate BAC for a male? Female?
Define Henry’s Law.
What would be the BAC of a 160-lb male who has consumed 2 pints (16 oz each) of beer (5% alcohol) in 1 hour?
What is the distribution of alcohol between blood and air expelled deeply from the lungs?
What does the Nystagmus test show for an intoxicated person?
About how much total alcohol would you expect to find in the blood of a 110-lb woman with a BAC of 0.04?
Calculate how much blood the woman above has in her body. Show your work.
What would be the BAC of a 136-lb woman who has consumed three vodka tonics (2 oz. of vodka each, with vodka at 80 proof) during her lunch hour? If she forgets the time and talks for two more hours with her friend without having another drink, what will her BAC be when she gets back to work?
A 165-lb man was involved in a car accident at 10 PM. His BAC was measured at the time at 0.08, which he said was impossible because he had only two beers (pint-size, 5% alcohol) just after work at 6 PM. How many beers did he actually have?