Cracking Bath Salt Composition
By Frederic Prulliere
This article will provide examples of the use of Direct Deposition GC-FTIR technology in the forensics environment, including demonstration of the Direct Deposition GC-FTIR instrument’s ability to deal with large volumes of samples, while highlighting the specificity of the technology by differentiating typical street drug isomers.
Seized Drug Analysis Using FT-IR and Mixture Searching For More Effective Identification
By Sanford Angelos, Mike Garry
Modern FT-IR systems provide rapid analysis of samples with very little effort, putting the technique on par with the dilute and shoot simplicity of the GC/MS.
How To Extrapolate Alcohol With Certainty
By Henry J. Swofford
The courts have recently decided that single numerical values for blood and breath test results without a measure of uncertainty are inadmissible as they preclude objective interpretation.
Precise Confirmation and Quantitation of Cocaine and its Major Metabolites in Human Urine Using New GC-MS Methodology
By Matthew Lambing, Eric Phillips, Trisa Robarge
This article will discuss regulatory guidelines that have been developed for the analysis of cocaine and will present a new GC-MS method for the confirmation and quantitation of cocaine and its major metabolites in a human urine matrix.
Identification of Synthetic Cannabinoids in Herbal Incense Blends
By Thomas J. Gluodenis Jr., Ph.D.
An effective and easy-to-replicate approach to the identification of synthetic cannabinoids in herbal incense blends by Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS).
Effectively Detect Drugs In Urine
By Petra Gerhards, Pierre Schanen, Gerhard Horner
Advanced TOF-MS technology enables fast, sensitive, and reliable detection of drugs of abuse in urine.
Design Guidelines for Toxicology Laboratories
By Ken Mohr
This article will provide design guidelines for toxicology laboratories that provide you with ideas on how you might better renovate your existing toxicology spaces or plan for these labs in a new space.
Detecting Marijuana In Saliva
By Eric Chi, Jason Cole
Using an MRM method on a GC-triple quadrupole MS to confirm and quantitate THC in oral fluid is an effective alternative to blood and urine samples.
Propofol: An Analytical and Medico-Legal Challenge
By Oliver Grundmann, Ph.D.
Although analysis for the detection of propofol follows standard procedures, the toxicological and medico-legal determination of the contribution of propofol to a fatality is often complicated by wide variability of propofol plasma concentrations and the concomitant abuse of other drugs.
Polonium-210 and The Assassination of Alexander Litvinenko
By Caroline DiCarlo
A highly active alpha particle emitter, Polonium-210 is a fatal toxin, even at very small doses.
Alcohol In the 21st Century: New Standards, New Technology
By Henry J. Swofford
New technology can reduce calculation times when determining the degree of uncertainty in blood alcohol concentration estimations.
Change Is in the Air: Safety and Design of Toxicology Laboratories
By Matthew Pettit, Susan Halla
The proper design of a toxicology lab is more than process and people. There are significant strategies to consider in the design.
Deadly Delicious—Mushroom Poisoning
By Oliver Grundmann, Ph.D., Ian Tebbett, Ph.D.
There has been an increase over the last few decades in foraging for wild mushrooms as ingredients for gourmet meals. This practice has however not surprisingly come with a high price, an increase in mushroom poisoning (mycetism) cases.
Methamphetamine: Getting to its Roots
By Guifeng Jiang
A look at how the separation and identification of pseudoephedrine from illegal drug mixtures can help to identify the sources and the manufacturing pathway of methamphetamine seized in the illicit market.
Forensic Toxicology in the Fore...and Aft
By Robert A. Middleberg, Ph.D.
While the technology available to the forensic toxicologist is far superior to that of 170 years ago, the analytical challenges remain the same.
Ricin on the Rise: Are we prepared?
By Oliver Grundmann, Ph.D., Ian Tebbett, Ph.D.
Nature has created some of the deadliest poisons ranging from botulinum neurotoxin and anthrax to ricin. In the fall of 2001, anthrax spores were discovered in the U.S. mail and ultimately resulted in the deaths of five people.
Forensic Technology Widens Net for Drugs of Abuse: The Rise of LC/MS/MS for Toxicology Testing
By Tania A. Sasaki, Ph.D.
Everyone outside the toxicology field seems to believe the forensic toxicology laboratory can identify any drug or compound of interest with a simple push of a button.
Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) Spectroscopy for the Identification of Explosives
By Shannon M. Richard, Eric J. Bukowski, Ph.D., John A. Monti, Ph.D.
Ion Mobility Spectroscopy is routinely used to detect trace explosive residues at security checkpoints, but FTIR is better suited to handle the types of samples that enter a forensic laboratory.
Distinguishing the Good and the Bad from the Ugly with GC and FT-IR
By Michael Bradley, Ph.D.
The class of drugs similar to ephedrine, for instance, includes methamphetamine and pseudoephedrine, one a controlled drug, the other an over-the-counter decongestant. The subtle differences make the need for a rapid, structurally sensitive method of analysis an imperative for effective drug law enforcement.
Dead Reckoning
By Douglas Page
Criminal foul play and medical malpractice often go undiscovered unless post-exhumation autopsy is performed. Declining autopsy rates is the likely culprit.
