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INTRODUCTION
o Poisons have played an important part in crimes, from early times, as a
silent weapon of destroying life secretly and mysteriously. Many deaths
occur as a result of poisoning. The police are called upon to investigate
whether it is a case of suspected poisoning, to establish whether it is a
case of accidental, suicidal or homicidal poisoning.
o The investigation of cases of poisoning is one of the most difficult tasks
confronting the police, because the symptoms of different kinds of
poisoning may simulate those of various diseases. The investigation is
further complicated by the easy availability of variety of poisons ,the small
amount of poison available for examination and the difficulty in their
extraction and identification.
TERMINOLOGIES
POISON-It is a substance ,which when taken into the mouth or stomach or
when absorbed into the blood ,is capable of seriously affecting the health,
or destroying life by its action on the tissues, with which it immediately or
after absorption comes into contact.
TOXICOLOGY-It is a science of poisons .It deals with the nature,origin,
properties ,mode of administration ,physiological action, the signs and
symptoms, extraction and identification of poisons.
TOXICOLOGIST-He detects and identifies foreign chemicals in the body,
with a particular emphasis upon toxic or hazardous substances.
DESCRIPTIVE TOXICOLOGIST-He performs toxicity tests to evaluate the
risk that exposure poses to humans.
MECHANISTIC TOXICOLOGIST-He attempts to determine how substances
exert deleterious effects on living organisms.
REGULATORY TOXICOLOGIST-He judges whether or not a substance has
low enough risk to justify making it available to the public .
TOXIN-It is any material exerting a life threatening effect upon a living
organism. Poisons are a subgroup of toxins. Toxic materials exist in many
forms (gaseous, liquid, solid, animal, mineral, and vegetable), and may be
ingested, inhaled, or absorbed through the skin. Toxins work in minute
quantities or low levels, requiring sensitive analytical instruments for
detection. Some toxins have medicinal value, but many produce irreparable
damage. Some toxins have antidotes and others do not.
ACUTE POISONING-It is exposure to a poison on one occasion or during a
short period of time. Symptoms develop in close relation to the exposure. It
can be caused by less dangerous substances than those receiving the
legal classification of "poison".
CHRONIC POISONING-It is long-term repeated or continuous exposure
to a poison where symptoms do not occur immediately or after each
exposure. The patient gradually becomes ill, or becomes ill after a long
latent period. Chronic poisoning most commonly occurs following
exposure to poisons that bio-accumulate, or are biomagnified, such
as mercury and lead.
LETHAL DOSE-The amount of a toxic agent necessary to cause death is
known as lethal dose.
ACTION OF POISON ON THE BODY
POISON TAKEN ORALLY-When a poison is taken by mouth,it first
goes to the stomach , wher hydrochloric acid and some enzymes
present in the stomach acts on it. As an intermediate reaction,
vomiting and frothing may throw out the poison, and the remaining
goes to the small intestine where the substance becomes
assimilable. From there it enters into the blood circulation. It then
goes to liver where it tries to detoxify the poison. From the liver it is
sent to the kidney to be eliminated as urine in the metabolite form.
The stomach and intestine(small)form one group of organs, wherein
major part of the poison may be detected in its original form. The liver
and kidney form another group, wherein the poison, both in its
original and metabolite form, may be detected. The poison circulates
throughout the body by means of blood. The localization of poison in
tissues is not similar for all poisons.
Aniline (hypnotics,
nitrobenzene)
Atropine (Belladonna),
Scopolamine
Cyanide
Food poisoning
Metallic compounds
Nicotine
Convulsion
Opiates
Odor of garlic
Sodium fluoride
Convulsion
Strychnine
Toxic effects are the undesirable results of a direct effect. They occur in a
number of ways, most often produced by a dangerous metabolit .
Toxic reactions often depend on how metabolites are processed by an
individual's body, how proteins build up and bind at effector sites in the
body. Some metabolites destroy liver cells, others brain tissue, and still
others operate at the DNA level.
Toxic reactions are classified as one of three (3) reactions:
pharmacological -- injury to the central nervous system (CNS)
pathological -- injury to the liver
genotoxic -- creation of benign or malignant neoplasms or tumors
If the concentration of toxin doesn't reach a critical level, the effects will
usually be reversible.
Pharmacological reactions, for example, are of this type. In order to sustain
permanent brain damage, dosages must be above a standard critical level.
Pathological reactions can be repaired if discovered early enough, but most
liver damage occurs over a period of few months to a decade.
Genotoxic or carcinogenic effects may take 20-40 years before tumors
develop.
Most of the time, toxic metabolites are activated by enzymatic
transformation, but a few are activated by light.
o This means that exposure of the skin to sunlight produces a photoallergic
reaction or phototoxic reaction within 24 hours.
o It's important to understand that the target organ of toxicity is not the site
where toxin accumulates.
o Lead poisoning, for example, results in an accumulation of lead in bone
marrow, but the toxic effect is the creation of lesions on skin and soft
tissue.
o Carcinogenesis is even more complicated, involving the creation of
promotor electrophiles which serve to activate or potentiate the growth
of latent tumors given some biological trigger or subsequent
environmental attack.
o Different people, of course, have chemical allergies (as well as food
allergies), depending upon the serology of their allergen-antigen history.
In such people, toxic reactions take different forms.
o Other people have what are called idosyncratic reactions, which means
they have certain unique genetic triggers.
o Furthermore, people exposed to multiple toxins can have synergistic
reactions, which means that two or more toxins interact at the metabolic
level to be greater or less than the effects of the individual toxins.
ISOLATION AND IDENTIFICATION OF POISON The forensic laboratory adopts several methods to isolate, identify
and estimate poisons.
INORGANIC POISONS from tissues,stomach contents,and other
material are isolated by number of methods.
VOLATILE ORGANIC POISONS are first extracted by steam
distillation and later identified by chemical tests or by gas
chromatograph
NON VOLATILE ORGANIC POISONS are first extacted by suitable
solvents and later identified by the thin layer chromatography or gas
chromatography.
Most modern methods like like high performance liquid
chromatography, gas chromatography coupled with mass
spectroscopy(GC-MS) are in use.
Poisons that have been injected (e.g. from the sting of poisonous
animals) can be treated by binding the affected body part with a pressure
bandage and by placing the affected body part in hot water (with a
temperature of 50C). The pressure bandage makes sure the poison is not
pumped troughout the body and the hot water breaks down the poison.
This treatment however only works with poisons that are composed of
protein-molecules
Decontamination
Whole bowel irrigation cleanses the bowel, this is achieved by giving
the patient large amounts of a polyethylene glycol solution. The
osmotically balanced polyethylene glycol solution is not absorbed into the
body, having the effect of flushing out the entire gastrointestinal tract. Its
major uses are following ingestion of sustained release drugs, toxins that
are not absorbed by activated charcoal (i.e. lithium, iron), and for the
removal of ingested packets of drugs (body packing/smuggling).
Antidote
vitamin K
opioids
naloxone
benzodiazepines
flumazenil
ethylene glycol
methanol
Cyanide
Organophosphates
Magnesium
Calcium Gluconate
Calcium Channel
Blockers
(Verapamil,Diltiazem)
Calcium Gluconate
Beta-Blockers
(Propranolol, Sotalol)
Isoniazid
Pyridoxine
Atropine
Physostigmine
Thallium
Prussian blue
Hydrofluoric acid
Calcium Gluconate
Anticholinergics
Enhanced excretion
Physical tests -- boiling point, melting point, density, and refractive index
Crystal tests -- treatment with a chemical reagent to produce crystals
Chemical spot tests -- treatment with a chemical reagent to produce color
changes
Chromatography (thin-layer or gas) -- used to separate components of a
mixture
CONFIRMATION TESTS
Mass spectrometry -- this is a combination of gas chromatography/mass
spectrometry which is generally accepted as the confirmation test of choice. Each
toxin has a known mass spectra, or "fingerprint", which is infallible proof of its
presence at the chemical level
Drug overdoses and alcoholic poisonings will provide most of the work for
toxicologists, hence a couple of allied subfields may be drawn upon: (1) a field
inhabited by what are called Drug Recognition Experts (DRE); and (2) alcohol
intoxication measurement (a subject talked about in a previous lecture). Both are
sought-after areas of police training. Another related subfield involves carbon
monoxide poisoning, which may involve an automobile engineer or fire safety
specialist.
The Drug Recognition Expertise evolved out of experiments in California with
the LAPD during the 1970s in which police officers were trained to identify and
recognize certain types of drugs based upon the impairments and physiological
symptoms. The examination that such specially trained police officers conduct
goes beyond normal Nystagmus testing and more closely resembles the taking of
vital signs by a nurse or paramedic, combined with structured interviewing and
observation. DRE's opinions are limited by law to identification of a class or
Marijuana
LSD
Cocaine
Barbiturates
morphine
Demerol and Methadone -- synthetic opium-like substances made in
laboratories
Marijuana is technically a hallucinogen but has been thrown in with
narcotics since Reyna v. State 1968.
o It tends to make a person lethargic rather than euphoric (an effect
like alcohol but without the aggression).
o It's active ingredient is THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) which is
contained mostly in the flower tops and to a lesser extent in stems and
seeds.
o One particular species, Cannabis Sativa, as opposed to other species,
e.g. Cannabis Indica, Cannabis Ruderalis, tends to contain more
THC (Delta-9-THC) as the main cannabinoid, than the other species,
if "species" is the right word since Small & Cronquist's (1976) study
found only one single species with two subspecies (Sativa & Indica),
each divisible into a cultivated and wild variety.
o Cannibis Indica has a significant amount of THC as well, along with
several other cannabinoids.
o The THC content is heavily affected by the sex of the plant, with
female plants generating substantially more resin than their male
conterparts.
o Toward this end, during plant growth, males are generally removed
before pollination occurs.
o The average marijuana cigarette contains only 1% THC while
hashish (made from ground flower tops) is 10% THC.
o Other hallucinogens include:
Peyote -- green, mushroom-like buttons on cactus plants
Psilocybin -- naturally-growing mushrooms
o Here's the controlled substances list and some sample penalties for
trafficking:
Schedule I
(no medical use)
Heroin, Opium,
Mescaline, Psilocybin,
LSD, Marijuana,
Hashish
15 years/$125,000
5 years/$50,000
(marijuana)
Schedule II
(some medical use)
Methadone, Morphine,
Cocaine,
Amphetamines,
Methamphetamine,
PCP
15 years/$125,000
Schedule III
(moderate dependence)
Codeine, Steroids
5 years/$50,000
Schedule IV
(limited dependence)
Barbituates, Lithium,
Valium
3 years/$25,000
Schedule V
Cough Syrups
1 year/$10,000
o Quite a few interesting defenses exist to a drug charge. With marijuana, for
example, one could raise the "species defense" and then the plant would
have to be proved to be Cannibus Sativa.
o With steroids, one could raise the "roid rage" defense, that their behavior
was out of control.
o A basic defense is that the person was not trying to feel good, but feel
better, a "medical necessity" defense.
o It's unconstitutional to make the status of being an addict a crime in itself
(Robinson v. California 1962).
o Drug charges can also be challenged on scientific grounds, as follows:
Sampling method -- is the fraction tested representative?
Usable vs. Measurable Quantity Rule -- sometimes just a trace is found (as on
pipe or bong scrapes) and case law varies with some states requiring a
"usable quantity"
Pure vs. Aggregate Weight Rule -- pure is the uncut amount, but most states
follow an aggregate weight rule so, for example, 10 pounds might refer to the
blotter paper the LSD is on
Case reports
Two of these cases involved poison. In Essex, James Emery
had given his pregnant lover twelve poisonous pills, hoping to
cause a miscarriage. Evidence that her death was due to
arsenic was given by Mr Tomkin, a surgeon, and Mr Baker, an
operative chymist.9 In Yorkshire, the court accepted that Ann
Barber's husband James had also died from arsenic poisoning,
a fact to which the surgeon and apothecary John Hindle
testified. He was firm in his conclusions, but was forced to admit
that although he had made certain tests for arsenic, it was the
first time he had done so. According to the newspaper report, he
stated that Mr Postuett, a medical person was also present
when the autopsy and chemical tests were performed.10 The
two correspondents, almost certainly reflecting the progress of
the trials themselves, did not linger on the evidence of
poisoning, being far more concerned by the motives of the two
accused and the details of their private lives. If these reports
can be taken as accurate reflections of the issues that most
concerned the court, then it would appear that the medical and
scientific evidence of poisoning was not contentious. There was
no clash of opinion, legal or medical, or difficulty in convincing
the jurors that death was due to arsenic poisoning. Although
Ann Barber had a barrister, his cross-examination of Hindle was
based on a brief he received on the morning the trial began.
James Emery had no lawyer.
In one of the illicit liquor tragedies, about hundred people started
vomiting and became unconscious after drinking illicit liquor