MAY 1, 2013 EQ: How can toxins be collected and identified? WARM-UP: Read the Case Study: Death by Tylenol on pg223 (Blue book)/ pg 234 (Orange book) and answer the following questions: 1.How many people died as a result of ingesting what they thought to be was Tylenol? 2.What substance were they actually taking? 3.How was the poison distributed? 4.What is this known as? 5.Has/have the perpetrator(s) been found? What is the reward? *In 1992, the U.S. Dept. of Transportation (DOT) recommended that states adopt 0.08 % BAC as the legal measure of drunk driving. *One is 4 times more likely to be involved in an automobile accident at the 0.08 level. *The first step in analyzing drugs is a color test. *Many drugs yield characteristic colors when brought into contact with specific chemicals. *Useful for screening purposes only *Toxicologists have a very difficult job to do. They have to narrow down thousands of possibilities to one *Post mortem blood tends to produce ethyl alcohol from bacterial action, therefore sometimes the collection of urine and vitreous humor (liquid in eye) is collected. *Alcohol is ingested through the mouth, down the esophagus, to the stomach where 20% of it is absorbed through the portal veins. *The rest of the alcohol is absorbed by the small intestines and carried to the liver, and moves up to the heart which distributes it to all your tissues. Uses a solid stationary phase and a moving liquid to separate the parts of a mixture. *Separates mixtures based on their distribution between a stationary liquid phase and a moving gas phase. *After the mixture is separated it passes through a high- vacuum chamber, that passes a beam of high-energy electrons causing fragments to be separated according to their masses. A fuel cell converts energy from a chemical reaction into electrochemical energy. Any alcohol present in the subjects breath flows into the chamber and a beam of infrared light passes through the chamber. Three most widely used screening tests: 1. TLC 2. GC 3. Immunoassay-best for detecting the low drug levels associated with marijuana Toxicologists follow up positive screening test with a confirmation test; GC/mass spectometry Environmental protection regulations restrict their availability to the general public. *Hair is nourished by blood flowing through capillaries located close to the hair root. *Hair grows at a rate of _____ per month, therefore it can be used to date drugs used over a period of weeks, months or years depending of the hairs length. *Carbon Monoxide (CO) is one of the most common poisons found in a forensic lab. *It is a common way that some individuals commit suicide. *When the amount of CO in the blood reaches 50-60% saturation, the results can be fatal.