Forensic toxicology is the use of toxicology to aid medicolegal investigation of death and poisoning. Many toxic substances do not produce characteristic lesions.
A forensic toxicologist must consider the context of an investigation, in particular any physical symptoms recorded, and any evidence collected at a crime scene that may narrow the search, such as pill bottles, powders, trace residue, and any available chemicals. Provided with this information and samples with which to work, the forensic toxicologist must determine which toxic substances are present, in what concentrations, and the probable effect of those chemicals on the person.
Determining the substance ingested is often complicated by the bodys natural processes, as it is rare for a chemical to remain in its original form once in the body. For example: heroin is almost immediately metabolised into morphine, making detailed investigation into factors such as injection marks and chemical purity necessary to confirm diagnosis. The substance may also have been diluted by its dispersal through the body; while a pill or other regulated dose of a drug may have grams or milligrams of the active constituent, an individual sample under investigation may only contain micrograms or nanograms.
Nationally recognized expert in postmortem and impairment toxicology. Expertise includes the analysis and interpretation of ethanol, drugs and poisons in biological specimens.
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