Forensic Toxicology Essay

1. What are the iii areas covered by forensic toxicology?Toxicology covers post-mortem medicate examen, workplace drug examination and investigations into contraband materials.2. Name six specimen types that are a great deal time-tested in forensic toxicology. Under what circumstances is each specimen prefer? Blood When examen for DUIs, and two samples for every death case. Urine Preemployment drug testing and is preferred over relationship as its eacsy to collect ample amounts. Bile and liver fluid Useful for pick outing certain types of drugs Hair Preemployment testing and is advantageous for looking further back in time oral fluid Provides the same benefits of urine without invasion of privacy Breath use for preliminary test on highways3. Name the NIDA 5. Draw a remit showing the following characteristics of each drug structure of a congressman molecule, drug group, symptoms of overdose and drug source. National Institute on drug Abuse 5 cites the following dru gs 4. Name several groups of medicinal drugs often involved in fatalities. What characteristics render a drug most probable to be associated with overdose deaths? Sedative hynotics, cardio agile agents, antipsychotic agents, antiepileptic drugs and antidepressants. Miss use, or organ damage pop offing to failure of metabolism.5. A 210-pound male consumes lead highballs each of which was made with 2 ounces of 80 proof whiskey. What is the expected pinnacle in his blood alcohol compactness? His blood alcohol concentration would raise by slight than 0.06% as he is larger than an sightly male.6. Name three methods for drug screening describe the advantages and disadvantages of each.NameAdvantagesDisadvantagesImmunoassays mellowed sensitivityNot 100% specificThin Layer Chromatography arouse identify hundreds of compounds in one run and is inexpensiveLabour intensifier and highly technicalUltraviolet-Visible SpectrophotometryReliable compound recognitionCannot identify less specifi c features7. Contrast gas chromatography with and without a concourse spectrometer detector. disclose the advantages of the latter technology. Gas chromatography without a peck spectrometer detector relies solely on retention time however the use of a mass spectrometer detector allows for all components of a mixture to be separated. The advantages of mass spectrometer detectors are that its often highly unique and provides a fingerprint of the molecule and therefore one can use two the retention time and unique mass spectrum in order to identify substances.8. What are three methods of metal analysis? Which is the optimal method and why? trine of the methods of metal analysis are colormetric assays, Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry and neutron activation analysis however inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry is the optimal method as it is the most modern and of very high quality.9. Describe the process of interpret drug results in the context of preeemployment drug t esting. Why is drug testing for employed individuals more(prenominal) difficult? Preemployment drugs test usually use the person in questions urine, results are interpreted by canvas the level measured to an acceptable baseline. These baselines are not set at 0 be stick even second hand exposure can lead to trace amounts being metabolised and shown in the urine. Drug testing employed individuals is more difficult as it is usually in the context of confirming that drug abuse was the cause for erratic behaviour, this involves a blood test quite a than urine, and further to this there is no agreed level of drug in a system that can be classed as acause for behaviour.10. In a published case, an elderly woman with cancer dies. Three fentanyl patches are found on her body. Discuss the investigation of her death with deference to factors that would be significant to the forensic toxicologist in arriving at the cause and elbow room of death. The patches would be collected as evidence and tested for how much of the active ingredience was still present in the patches and two post mortem blood tests would be taken, one from the heart and one from an extremity, potentially the sites that the patches were applied to would be examined or swabbed also. The main factor in establishing the cause of death would be blood test results.