Toxicology Development Factors - Essay Example

Toxicology s Toxicology Toxicology is a branch of forensic science, which is used to investigate deaths, poisons and drug use. In toxicology, different samples from the human body are used for testing, like bodily fluids and tissue samples. The different factors which are isolated and tested in criminal investigations, are isolated for the purpose of finding out if the victim had consumed alcohol before death, did any illegal prescription or drugs contributed towards his death, were there any other chemicals, like a poison present in the victim’s body and if there were any metals found in the toxicology, which could lead to the murderer of the victim or provide any clue with respect to its case (Whitacre, 2012). The evidence which is collected by forensic experts is tested in a forensic toxicology lab, which contains sophisticated instruments. These instruments, along with precise methodologies hold importance in producing a toxicology report, because these reports are presented in court and their results are important in determining the sentence of a person (Hagedorn, 2011). However, toxicology is not limited to criminal investigations only, in fact, they are used in cases which involve environmental contamination, to determine what would be the impact of a spill, if it is near a population. Forensic Toxicologist needs to be prepared to testify in court and justify his findings and to explain methodologies which may seem complex to the jury. Before toxicologists conduct their process, they would need samples from the body under consideration. Toxicology is useful because of how it helps, particularly, the law enforcement authorities. Toxicologists collect samples from the body and then study them in the lab; they give a report about all the chemicals found in the body, alcohol, prescription drugs and illegal drugs. In fact, toxicologists can also find out if the person’s death has resulted because of poison or not. For example, hair samples from a body could be tested to see if the person has been involved in drug abuse for a long time or a short time. Saliva can also be used to test for the use of drugs. The Death Investigation Toxicology is also known as the Postmortem technology, where forensic toxicologists work with examiners and coroners to determine if the cause of a death, there has been involvement of alcohol or drugs. Human performance toxicology is about the effects of alcohol and drugs on the behavior of people. This could include investigations related to impaired driving, sexual assault, which is facilitated by drugs, like drug rape and motor vehicle collision (Toxicology, 2014). Toxicology is also used in sports; athletes are not allowed to use performance enhancing drugs, so that the competition they take part in remains fair. Forensic toxicologists use currently use and past use of banned drugs, like stimulants and steroids. A case study, which shows the use of toxicology, is taken from the Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, which tells us about a black man, who was 33 of age and was seen alive, for the last time, around midnight and then he was found unconscious by his brother. His eyes were red, there was an obvious sign of scleral hemorrhages, and there was a brownish purge found in his nose and mouth. Paramedics declared at the scene, that the person is dead. In order to find the cause and manner of the drug, the forensic toxicology report studied different samples of the body and then revealed the results (Kudolo, 2009). It was found out that the decedent has consumed alcohol, several medications which were prescribed to him and two drugs, which were illegal. Ethanol was found in the blood and the vitreous humor specimens. Thus, the report concluded that the death occurred because of overdose of multi drug and it was an accidental death; alcohol was not ruled as a cause of death, because it was found in normal quantity. Another case, which is mentioned in The Casebook of Forensic Detection, portrays the early history of toxicology. The case was about a woman, Mary Blandy, who fell in love with a Captain William Cranstoun. Even though he stated that he was rich, he didn’t have any wealth and already had a wife in Scotland. The Scottish wife took the Captain to court, but Mary stayed with him, however Mary’s father wasn’t too pleased with her decision. When the Captain was deeper into debt, he advised Mary to put a powder in the old man’s food and tea, however, at first that powder had no effect. The arsenic, which was present in the powder slowly, played its role and Mary’s father grew ill. Even though his servant discovered what Mary was doing, he didn’t forbid her from making his food and then he died (Evans, 1996). Even though the Captain was able to escape to Europe, Mary was arrested. In her trial, the toxicology report held great importance because the four doctors who examined the body of Mary’s father testified that his tissue samples were sufficient enough to conclude, that the substance killed Mary’s father. Forensic Toxicology may seem like a harmless term, but it is an important branch of science, because of the nature of devices used to kill people, is changing. Knife and gun are common methods, but there are different methods of murdering someone with the help of poison, which have caught the attention of toxicologists. Poison can be transferred through different sources like chewing gum, candy, food, beer and special finger rings, which have syringes attached to them. A scientific investigator, in order to go through this much detail, first needs to learn whether the person has been killed through poison or other method. Similarly, if the murderer is an expert in how to make a death seemed like a suicide, and then it wouldn’t be easy for toxicologists to find out the truth (Ramsland, 2014). Like in the famous case of Marilyn Monroe, it has not been known to date, what was the reason for her death, even though the toxicology report revealed that she used to take drugs and drink alcohol on a regular basis, it didn’t conclude what was the main cause of her death; perhaps, it was well covered by her murderer or it was really an accident. It is suffice to say that if toxicology was advanced, like it is now, at the time of her death, there would have been a conclusive result in the toxicology report. References Evans, C. (1996). The casebook of forensic detection (1st ed.). New York: Wiley. Hagedorn, J. (2011). Toxicology (1st ed.). New York: Viking. Kudolo, G. (2008). The Melting Pot - A Case Study in Forensic Toxicolog. Department Of Clinical Laboratory Sciences. Retrieved from http://uthscsa.edu/shp/cls/projects/Golson%20et%20al%202008.pdf Ramsland, K. (2014). Forensic Toxicology, how it solves cases and the major cases it solved — Mass Poisoning — Crime Library. Retrieved 13 May 2014, from http://www.crimelibrary.com/criminal_mind/forensics/toxicology/index.html Toxicology. (2014). Retrieved 13 May 2014, from http://aafs.org/students/student-career/toxicology Whitacre, D. (2012). Reviews of environmental contamination and toxicology (1st ed.). New York: Springer. Read More