clarke s analytical forensic toxicology pdf

The primary concern for forensic toxicology is not the legal outcome of the toxicological investigation, but rather the technology and techniques for obtaining and interpreting the results. It also recognized the application of forensic toxicology in pharmaceutical, clinical, industrial and environmental fields. He was a respected Spanish chemist and the physician who is often given the distinction of “Father of Toxicology.” His work emphasized the need for adequate proof of identification and the need for quality assurance. The first comprehensive work on Forensic Toxicology was published in 1813 by Mathieu Orfila. The interpretation of effects of drugs and their duration of action for the purpose of a medico-legal process is best referred to as forensic pharmacology, although there is overlap between these two scientiﬁc disciplines. 4 The application of this knowledge of drug presence (through forensic toxicology) in tissues is to meet the varied needs of the law. Many of the methods it employs have been derived from innovations in clinical medicine and academic laboratories throughout the world. 3 It is a thoroughly modern science, based on published and widely accepted scientific methods and practices, for both analysis of drugs in biological materials, and interpretation of those results. 2 Whereas, Forensic toxicology, is the use of toxicology and other disciplines such as analytical chemistry, pharmacology and clinical chemistry to cases and issues where those adverse effects have administrative or medico‐legal consequences, and where the results are likely to be used in court. 1 Toxicology does embrace the study of deleterious effects of substance exposure not only to the human body but also to the environment and all other organisms existing in the environment.

It is understood as that branch of science which deals with poisons, and a poison can be defined as any substance that causes a harmful effect when administered, either by accident or design, to a living organism. Toxicology is the study of the adverse effects of drugs and chemicals on biological systems.

Clarke s analytical forensic toxicology pdf