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Toxicology Final > Forensic Toxicology Overview > Flashcards

Forensic Toxicology Overview Flashcards

1
Q

What is toxicology?

A
  • the analysis of body fluids and tissues for the presence of drugs and poisons
    • involves ID
    • involves quantification
    • involves interpretation
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2
Q

What is postmortem forensic toxicology?

A
  • determines the cause and manner of death

- analysis of body fluids and tissues

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3
Q

What is human performance forensic toxicology?

A
  • modifying human performance of behaviour

- analysis of blood, breath or urine

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4
Q

What is forensic drug testing?

A
  • determine drug use

- analysis of urine, oral fluid, sweat or hair

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5
Q

What questions will a forensic toxicologist answer?

A
  • was a drug/poison found
  • what was found
  • how much was found
  • was the amount of poison/drug sufficient to cause death
  • when and how was the poison taken into the body
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6
Q

What is the information that is required to aid in interpretation?

A
  • age, gender and weight
  • time and date of death/incident
  • details of the last meal; actions between meal and onset of sx
  • was person treated in hospital
  • medication and drinking history
  • time delay between death and autopsy
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7
Q

What is postmortem redistribution?

A
  • involves the distribution of drugs from the heart tissue to the cardiac blood
  • cardiac blood levels may be significantly elevated
  • levels from 2 sites (femoral and cardiac) allow for more accurate interpretation
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8
Q

What information is required when interpreting a crime from a living person?

A
  • age, gender and weight
  • s/s of impairment or intoxication
  • admission of drug and alcohol use
  • evidence found at the scene or on the victim of the accused
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9
Q

What is the toxicology exam?

A
  • screen or tentative ID
  • confirmation
  • quantitation
  • interpretation
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10
Q

What is blood the most reliable sample for interpretation of?

A
  • alcohol and drug impairment
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11
Q

What is good about urine sample detection?

A
  • urine provides a longer period of detection
  • convenient to collect, non invasive
  • DRUGS ARE FOUND IN HIGHER CONCENTRATIONS HERE
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12
Q

What is the downside of urine collection?

A
  • may not reflect the level of impairment at the time of the incident
  • some drugs may break down in the body, making ID more difficult
  • may be subject to tampering
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13
Q

What are the limitations to urine testing?

A
  • used for ID purposes

- cannot determine WHEN or HOW MUCH drug was taken

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14
Q

What is hair testing useful for?

A
  • non-invasive
  • no special storage requirement
  • useful in determining long term drug use
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15
Q

Can you detect alcohol from a blood sample?

A
  • NO (environmental contamination may also be an issue)
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16
Q

What is oral fluid drug detection times similar to?

A
  • similar to blood

- only the parent drug here will be detected

17
Q

Is sweat a useful way of determining drug levels?

A

not really-costly, requires sensitive methods for detection

  • entire patch is consumed in analysis
  • limited info collected- only parent drug is detected here
18
Q

What is one of the most valuable tissues for post-mortem drug analysis?

A
  • LIVER
19
Q

Drugs accumulate in the liver ________ the concentration found in the blood

A

100x

20
Q

When is stomach contents an important thing to examine?

A
  • when drug overdose by oral ingestion if suspected
  • by visual inspection: may be able to ID undissolved or undigested tablets
  • is a measure of unabsorbed drug at the time of death
21
Q

What drug is bile a major rout of elimination for?

A
  • opiates
22
Q

Bile samples cannot determine ________ or ________

A

when or how the drug was consumed

23
Q

What is vitreous humour routinely analyzed for?

A
  • alcohol not drugs
24
Q

Vitreous humour is less subject to what?

A
  • contamination and putrefaction

- limited quantity available

25
Q

CSF fluid is analyzed for what?

A
  • alcohol when available (less subject to contamination and putrefaction)
26
Q

What is the alcohol concentration in the blood when someone starts to decompose?

A

200 mg %

27
Q

What are some chemicals that putrefaction can cause some challenges in the analysis of?

A
  • CO
  • cocaine
  • alcohol
  • cyanide
28
Q

What should you do if examination of submission is going to be delayed?

A
  • FREEZE

Toxicology Final (14 decks)

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