1. Chapter 8 Toxicology: Poisons and Alcohol
“All substances are poisons. There is none which is not. The right dose differentiates a poison and remedy.”
—Paracelsus ( ). Swiss physician and chemist

2. Toxicology and Alcohol
Students will be able to:
Discuss the connection of blood alcohol levels to the law, incapacity, and test results.
Understand the vocabulary of poisons.
Design and conduct scientific investigations.
Use technology and mathematics to improve investigations and communications.
Identify questions and concepts that guide scientific investigations.
Communicate and defend a scientific argument.
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3. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company
Toxicology
Definition—the study of the adverse effects of chemicals or physical agents on living organisms.
Types:
Environmental—air, water, soil
Consumer—foods, cosmetics, drugs
Medical, clinical, forensic
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4. Toxicology
Detect and isolate drugs in the body to determine their influence on human behavior.
Knowing how the body metabolizes alcohol is key to understanding its effects.
Knowledge made development of instruments to measure presence & concentration of alcohol.

5. Toxicologists
Toxicologists are charged with the responsibility for detecting and identifying the presence of drugs and poisons in body fluids, tissues, and organs.
Toxicologists not only work in crime laboratories and medical examiners’ offices, but may also reach into hospital laboratories and health facilities to identify a drug overdose or monitor the intake of drugs.

6. Historical Perspective of Poisoners
Olympias—a famous Greek poisoner, mother of Alexander the Great ( BC)
Locusta—personal poisoner of Emperor Nero (54 AD)
Lucretia Borgia—father was Pope Alexander VI ( )
Catherine Medici- Queen of France poisoned political rivals, and experimented with poisons on the poor ( AD)
Madame Giulia Toffana—committed over 600 successful poisonings, including two Popes (1659 AD)
Hieronyma Spara—formed a society to teach women how to murder their husbands (1659 AD)
Madame de Brinvilliers and Catherine Deshayes—Convicted French witch poisoners. ( AD)
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7. Mathieu Orfilia
Mathieu Orfila—known as the father of forensic toxicology, published in “Traite des Poisons” which described the first systematic approach to the study of the chemistry and physiological nature of poisons.
His work mainly centered around arsenic.
It was relatively easy to get because it was the rat poison of the day and was the favorite murder weapon among

8. Aspects of Toxicity: What could affect the toxicity?
Dosage
The chemical or physical form of the substance
The mode of entry into the body
Body weight and physiological conditions of the victim, including age and sex
The time period of exposure
The presence of other chemicals in the body or in the dose
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Lethal Dose
LD50—refers to the dose of a substance that kills half the test population, usually within four hours
Expressed in milligrams of substance per kilogram of body weight
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Intoxicant vs. Poison:
An intoxicant such as alcohol requires that a relatively large amount be added to be lethal.
A poison, like cyanide, requires a relatively small amount to be fatal.
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Toxicity Classes
LD50 (rat,oral)
Correlation to Ingestion by 150 lb Adult Human
Toxicity
<1mg/kg
a taste to a drop
Extremely
1-50 mg/kg
to a teaspoon
highly
mg/kg
to an ounce
moderately
mg/kg
to a pint
slightly
5-15 g/kg
to a quart
Practically non-toxic
Over 15g/kg
more than 1 quart
Relatively harmless
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12. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company
Use your book
What are symptoms and signs of these types of Poisonings?
Chloroform
Methanol
Cyanide
How could a toxicologist test for them?
What tissue samples, tests, and or other data?
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13. Federal Regulatory Agencies
Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Consumer Product Safety Commission
Department of Transportation (DOT)
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
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14. Symptoms of Various Types of Poisoning
Type of Poison Symptom/Evidence
Caustic Poison (lye) Characteristic burns around the lips and mouth of the victim
Carbon Monoxide Red or pink patches on the chest and thighs, unusually bright red lividity
Sulfuric acid Black vomit
Hydrochloric acid Greenish-brown vomit
Nitric acid Yellow vomit
Phosphorous Coffee brown vomit. Onion or garlic odor
Cyanide Burnt almond odor
Arsenic, Mercury Pronounced diarrhea
Methyl (wood) or Nausea and vomiting, unconsciousness,
Isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol possibly blindness
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15. Critical Information on Poisons
Common color
Characteristic odor
Solubility
Taste
Common sources
Lethal dose
Mechanism
Possible methods of administration
Time interval of onset of symptoms.
Symptoms resulting from an acute exposure
Symptoms resulting from chronic exposure
Disease states mimicked by poisoning
Notes relating to the victim
Specimens from victim
Analytical detection methods
Known toxic levels
Notes pertinent to analysis of poison
List of cases in which poison was used
—John Trestrail from “Criminal Poisoning”
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16. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company
To Prove a Case
Prove a crime was committed
Motive
Intent
Access to poison
Access to victim
Death was caused by poison
Death was homicidal
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17. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company
Forensic Autopsy
Look for:
Irritated tissues
Characteristic odors
Mees lines—single transverse white bands on nails.
Order toxicological screens
Postmortem concentrations should be done at the scene for comparison
No realistic calculation of dose can be made from a single measurement
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