Forensic Toxicology Can Debunk the Poppy Defense

When it comes to detecting substance abuse, urinalysis remains to be the tool of choice by forensic toxicologists. Recent improvements in drug tests may soon accurately separate positive cases of heroin use from false-positive ones, wherein individuals have only ingested poppy seeds and not taken an illegal drug. These false-positive cases have presented problems to authorities because of the possibility that drug users may only be using the “poppy seed defense” to their advantage.

The term relates to how people can test positive for heroin abuse simply by consuming pastries made using poppy seeds. Depending on the quantity of seeds consumed, a person may test positive even up to 60 hours after ingesting the food containing poppy seeds.

While there are some claims that poppy seed ingestion do not make false-positive results in hair tests, forensic specialists have doubts as to its accuracy. This is why urinalysis remains the top choice when it comes to detecting substance use.

Should subsequent studies regarding the use of effective markers for street heroin prove successful, forensic toxicologists will be able to provide an expert opinion regarding a person’s alleged heroin use based on the chemicals found on the urine sample. Such professionals can help a defense or plaintiff attorney with accurate medical assessments regarding the sobriety or condition of the individual in question.

Keys to Choosing an Expert Witness

Criminal cases are won by a single expert testimony, be it by a ballistics specialist, a criminal psychology professional or a toxicologist. Oftentimes, it is the lawyer’s job to secure a witness who can help disprove his client’s involvement in the case. So how exactly does one choose an expert witness?

Choose the Field

Fields of specialization include forensic, environmental, and medical toxicology, internal medicine, and clinical pharmacology. For example, if the case involves poisoning, then you should look for a toxicology expert witness. You can also get in touch with a reputable expert witness referral service for assistance.

Consultant

You will have to hire an expert witness that will act as a consultant to study the case and provide results. A ballistics expert for instance, will inspect bullet wounds and trajectories to find a link between the suspect and the victim. A toxicologist on the other hand, will check for evidence of administered poisons to find out if the victim indeed died or was almost killed by poisoning.

Witness

After the expert has obtained results, the court will convene him to testify (take note that you have the call on how much information the witness can divulge, as long as you’re not burying evidence). You may also need to brief your expert on what questions he might be facing in the course of his examination and cross-examination.

Environmental Toxicology: Recent Discoveries on Chemicals in the Air

"These are the kinds of things that toxicologists like Dr. Nachman Brautbar MD deal with on a regular basis. Aside from pollutants, they also analyze pesticides, plastic materials, solvents, and even gasoline (especially in an oil spill) for toxicity. It is the job of toxicologists to accurately pinpoint the causes and effects of environmental diseases to humans, animals, and plants, as well as help shed light on environmental issues such as global warming. For instance, recent environmental toxicology research now establish that reducing the amount of sulfur dioxide on the planet, which is one of the causes of global warming, can actually make things worse. This compound plays an important role in cooling the planet's surface; removing it from the atmosphere will allow more sunlight and heat to enter the Earth. The best thing that can be done is to regulate, rather than completely neutralize, sulfur dioxide levels like putting high taxes on greenhouse gas emissions so that industr

http://www.environmentaldiseases.com/blog/2013/10/02/environmental-toxicology-recent-discoveries-on-chemicals-in-the-air/

How to Poison-Proof Your House

Poison control centers are frequently flooded with calls from victims who accidentally ingest poisonous substances. The sad part is that most of the time, the calls come from people who take common household items without knowing that they are dangerous. Many toxicology experts note that many of the household chemicals you take daily can have adverse and possibly lethal effects when misused.

If you have children, poison-proof your entire house by installing safety or childproof locks on your cabinets to keep them from being accessed unwittingly. Store all your cleaning chemicals, medicine, and pesticides well away from their reach, but you might still need to lock them up to ensure that nothing goes wrong.

Keep all food items and potential poisons far away from each other. You could be distracted one time and pour something dangerous into the soup you're cooking. Store them in different cabinets too, especially those with similar looking containers, and don't be lazy to put them back where you got them.

The bottles of chemicals and medicine you have are usually very colorful and may very likely entice a child to play with them, so make sure that they are stored in child-resistant containers or under lock and key in your bathroom's first-aid kit.

What a Toxicology Expert Witness Can Do

In William Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, a character declares, “If you poison us, do we not die?” That line still rings true today, as more and more incidents are reported where poison caused the death or serious injury of a person. The 2012 data gathered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that a total of 17,622 children under six years were reportedly exposed to harmful ingredients in a wide range of products, such as cosmetics, pain medications, cleaners, and pesticides.

Tracing the source of these incidents is necessary so the public can be advised to avoid said sources accordingly. Tracing the toxicity source, however, is a job that a layperson won't be able to do on his own. This is a job that only a toxicology expert can accomplish. Toxicology experts combine their knowledge on three branches to determine the cause of poison exposure: medicine, chemistry, and biology.

These experts conduct several tests to arrive at the most accurate result. Unlike in crime shows where toxicology experts seem to come up with results in an instant (almost as if they used magic) in real life, the process is much longer. If a person is exposed to a toxic substance, the toxicology experts will have to get a tissue sample, urine sample, and blood sample, and getting all these examined takes time to determine the exact cause.