Dr.

Varun Vyas
L-9
Toxicology/Poisons: An
Forensic Overview
 Toxicology is the study of adverse effects of chemical substances on biological system due to
their exposure. It includes study of mode of action, symptoms, detection and treatments of
toxic agent in biological system.

• Branches of toxicology
• There are various branches of toxicology i.e. analytical toxicology, clinical
toxicology, forensic toxicology, veterinary toxicology, aquatic toxicology,
environmental toxicology, etc. These branches have been summarized in
following figure.
• Analytical toxicology: Analytical toxicology is deals with evaluation of toxic
substance present in biological specimen as well as in raw form. Evaluation
involves detection, identification and quantification of poisons using various
analytical techniques

• Clinical toxicology: Clinical toxicology is deals with diagnosis and treatment of

human poisoning.
• Forensic toxicology: Forensic toxicology deals with the analysis of
toxic substances which involve various methods to study these
poisonous substances to aid the legal investigation to know the cause
of poisoning. It is medico-legal aspect of clinical poisoning.

• Veterinary toxicology: Veterinary toxicology is the specialised branch

of toxicology which deals with study, diagnosis and treatment of
various toxic compounds in animal kingdom.
• Aquatic toxicology: Aquatic toxicology deals with adverse effect
caused by toxic substance on aquatic system4 .
• Environmental toxicology: Environmental toxicology deals with the
illeffects of environmental toxicants on human, animal, plants and the
environment. Environmental toxicants are the compounds which are
released into environment from various sources such as disposal from
industries, domestic disposal etc which may be degradable or non-
degradable.
 Poison is a substance which when administered, inhaled or
swallowed by living organism causes ill effects on the body. It is
defined also as a medicine in a toxic dose. Toxic substance may be
solid, liquid, gas or any environmental agent.
Classification of poison Poisons can be classified in various
categories depending upon their (A) mode of action and (B) physical
state and (C) medicolegal classification (D) toxico-analytical as
follow:
(A) On the basis of mode of action: On the basis of mode of action
poison can be categorized into (i) Corrosive Poisons (ii) Irritant
poisons, (iii) Neurotic Poisons, (iv) Cardiac Poisons and (v)
Asphyxiants.
(i) Corrosive Poisons: Corrosive poisons are the poisons which cause
inflammation at the site of contact. Both strong acids and alkalis are comes
under this category.
(a) Strong acids: Concentrated sulphuric acid, nitric acid and hydrochloric
acid
(b) Strong bases: Sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide and ammonium
hydroxide.
(ii) Irritant poisons: Irritants are those substances which cause irritation,
pain, excessive vomiting. These are further divided into (a) inorganic poisons,
(b) organic poisons and (c) mechanical poisons.
(a) Inorganic poisons: Inorganic poisons are consisted of: Metallic – Lead,
arsenic, mercury, antimony, copper and zinc etc. Non Metallic - Chlorine,
bromine and iodine, etc.
(b) Organic Poisons: Organic poisons consist of poisons of both vegetable
origin and animal origin. Animal poisons – Snakes venom, scorpion venom,
spiders etc. Vegetable poisons – Croton oil, castor oil etc.
(c) Mechanical Poisons: Mechanical poisons are the poisons which cause
irritation, perforation obstruction in the gastrointestinal tract. For example,
powder glass, diamond dust etc.
(iii) Neurotic Poisons: - Neurotic poisons are the poisons which affects the
different part of central nervous system such as cerebral poisons, spinal
poison, peripheral poisons etc. and these constitute of following poisons: a.
Cerebral Poisons –Alcohol, opium, barbiturates, benzodiazepines etc. b.
Spinal Poison – Strychnine. c. Peripheral – Curare
(iv) Cardiac Poisons – Digitalis, tobacco.
(v) Asphyxiants – CO, CO2 etc5 .
• (B) On the basis of their physical state: Based on physical state,
poisons can be grouped into (i) solid poisons, (ii) liquid poisons
and (iii) gaseous poisons.
• (i) Solid poisons: Solid poisons don not get absorbed easily into
the blood. These should be dissolved properly in liquid to get
absorbed. For example lead, arsenic, mercury etc.
• (ii) Liquid poisons: Liquid poisons contain both organic and
inorganic liquid. Organic liquids are more volatile than inorganic
liquids. Liquid poison can be absorbed when administered orally
or by inhalation or through skin. As organic liquids are vaporises
and organic vapours are absorbed by lungs such as chloroform,
acetone etc. and the organic vapours which are soluble in lipids
get easily absorbed through skin for e.g. furfural.
(iii) Gaseous poisons: Gaseous poisons are absorbed by inhalation such as
carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide etc. In atmosphere, there are aerosols
particles in air and these are either inhaled or deposited on the skin. They
causes marked effect on lungs when inhaled during breathing and causes
obstruction into the lungs (asbestos) in comparison to those absorbed
through skin. Fibres and dust are also the examples of aerosols
(C) Medicolegal classification of poison: Based on intention behind the
crime, poisons are classified into (i): Homicidal poisons, (ii) Suicidal
poisons, (iii) Accidental poisons, (iv) Abortifacient poisons, (v) Stupefying
agent/poisons, (vi) Agents used to cause bodily injury (vii) Cattle Poison (viii)
Used for malingering.
(i) Homicidal poisons: The poisons which are used to kill the other person
are known as homicidal poisons such as aconite, abrus precatorius,
strychnos nux vomica etc.
(ii) Suicidal poisons: Suicidal poisons are those poisons which are used for
self killing such as opium, barbiturate, organophosphorus, organochloro
compounds.
(iii) Accidental poisons: Accidental poisons are those poisons
which cause toxicity by accidents or used in mistaken of others:
Snakes bite, CO, and child takes dhatura’s seeds in mistaken of
capsicum seeds as it resemble to capsicum seed.
(iv) Abortifacient poisons: The poisons winch are used to procure
abortion are know as abortifacient poisons for exemples Quinine
(alkaloid), Calotropis etc.
(v) Stupefying agent/poisons: Stupefying agents are those poisons
which are used to stupefy or fool the person for example Dhatura
and chloral hydrate are used to rob the stranger or for the
commitment of other crimes.
• (vi) Agents used to cause bodily injury: Usually corrosive acids are
used to cause injury on faces and known as vitriol throwing.
• (vii) Cattle Poison: Agents which are used to kill livestocks are
known as cattle poisons. Abrus precatorius, Calotropis are used
to kill cattle.
• (viii) Used for malingering: Some times semicarpus anacardium is
used by malinger to escape from duties as these produces to
produce an artificial bruise.
Toxicology is the study of the adverse effects of chemicals on living organisms.
Forensic toxicology takes it a step further, including a number of related disciplines to
assist in the detection and interpretation of drugs and poisons in medicolegal death
investigations, human performance issues; e.g., driving under the influence,
compliance and other related matters.

In these investigations, the three main objectives (respectively) are to:

• Establish if toxicants are present and capable of contributing to death

• Establish if toxicants are present and capable of causing behavioural changes

• Establish if substances are present and whether or not they represent legitimate
use or exposure, such as prescribed medications or workplace exposure
How It’s Done
How the evidence is collected

1. Specimens sent for toxicology testing are usually collected by the forensic
pathologist (who may also be an appointed “medical examiner” or “coroner” in
some jurisdictions) or mortuary technician during an autopsy.
2. Specimens must be properly identified, labelled and sealed as soon as practicable
after collection.
3. All specimens pertaining to a case must be collected and bagged separately in
tamper-proof containers.
4. Unique numbered seals are used to track all evidence for each case.
5. Like any other evidence, the chain of custody must be preserved at all times, from
the mortuary through the laboratory testing, reporting and storage, for court
purposes. If the continuity of evidence is compromised, it can result in the case
being dismissed in court.
A snapshot of the kinds of samples commonly requested when investigating different manners of death,
although there may be unique case needs that have to be addressed for some investigations.