POISONING

Chongqing University of Medical Sciences

Faculty of Forensic Medicine
Lecturer Xing
 POISONING
 Case:  Toxicology & Foren
 The falling of Rome sic Toxicology
Empire  The significance of
Forensic Toxicology
 Poison/Poisoning
 Forensic Investigati
on
 The common toxica
nts poisoning
Toxicology
The study of poisons
 Toxicology
 Toxicology (from the Greek words tox
icon and logos) is the study of the ad
verse effects of chemicals on living o
rganisms.
 Forensic toxicology is…
 The use of Toxicology to aid medicolegal
investigation of death and poisoning.
 The study and practice of the application of
toxicology to the purposes of the law.
 SIGNIFICANCE
By identifying and quantifying of a drug,
poison of substance in human tissue
 Providing a base for clinical diagnosis &
treatment----heteropathy
 Giving suggestions on management & p
revention for poisons--tetramine
 Reveal a crime, provide clues—potassiu
m (K+), arrhythmia
Poison
 Poison
 substances that cause injury, illness, or
death to organisms, usually by chemical
reaction or other activity on the molecular
scale.
 It is a quantitative concept.
 Toxicity
 a measure of the degree to which something is
toxic or poisonous.
 can refer to the effect on a whole organism,
such as a human or a bacterium or a plant, or
to a substructure, such as the liver.
 The toxic and fatal dose
 A misunderstanding
 For every drug or poison there is a fixed dose
which will cause symptoms and disability and a
larger one which will kill.
 CLASSIFICATION
Toxicity can be measured by the effects on the target
----five levels:
 Level Mice LD50 via oral route Human
 (mg/kg) （ g/kg ）
 rank poison 〈 1 〈 0.05
 high 1-50 0.05-0.5
 moderate 50-500 0.5-5.00
 low 500-5000 5.0-15
 minute 〉 5000 〉 15
 ‘Dose-dependent’
 chief criterion regarding the toxicity of a
chemical is the dose. It's safe to say that
almost all substances are toxic under the
right conditions.
 As Paracelsus, the father of modern
toxicology said, "dose determines the
poison".
 Poisoning
The state of being poisoned.
 Poisoning
 Toxic dose: the minimal amount need to
produce poisoning
 Lethal dose: the minimal amount need to cause
death
 Toxic blood level: the concentration of poison
in blood when poisoned
 Fatal blood level: the concentration of poison
in blood when death happened
 Factors
Factors of importance in determining t
he severity of a poison include:
 Nature ---toxicity

 Concentration & amount

 Route of administration--amygdaloside

 Length of exposure

 Age, size, and physical health of the in

dividual
 FORENSIC INVESTIGATION
 History Inquiry
 Scene investigation
 Autopsy
 Sample collection and storage
 Toxicological analyses
 Interpret the results of the analyses
 Conclusion
Why are femoral vessels preferred?
 Because of the phenomenon of post
mortem diffusion, for toxicological p
urposes, peripheral blood should be
used for toxicologic analyses.
 Manner of death
 Accidental poisoning

 Suicidal poisoning

 Homicidal poisoning
 Common toxic substances
 Corrosive poisons: mineral acids (H2SO4 )
 Metallic poisons: arsenic, mercury
 Neurotoxicant and toxins
 Poisons to disturbance the respiratory function:
CO, cyanides
 Pesticides and insecticides: carbamates, etc.
 Rodenticides
 Poisonous plants: some mushrooms
 Poisonous animals