Forensic Laboratory Services

Toxicology Services

The Toxicology Services specialists detect drugs and poisons, including alcohol and other volatile substances, in biological fluids and tissues. These are quantified in cases of impaired driving, homicide and assault. Their other services include:

• giving interpretative evidence on the pharmacological effects of alcohol, drugs and poisons found. On request, interpretative evidence may be made on given hypothetical situations where no analysis of body fluids or tissues has been done;
• examining “over-the-counter” pharmaceutical and prepared food products to determine evidence of tampering;
• analyzing chemicals found in tear gas canisters and interpreting their toxic effects for court purposes; and
• providing scientific support to the Breath-Test Program, as well as to the drug recognition expert programs of Canadian police agencies.

On a cold night in a small town, a male disappeared from his residence leaving his car parked in the driveway. Two days later the man’s body was found face down in the river approximately two kilometers from his home. The wife of the deceased man told the police that her husband had been depressed lately as a result of losing his job. She therefore assumed that he had committed suicide. Postmortem exhibits were sent to the Toxicology Section for analysis. Ten µg% of alprazolam (a sedative for the treatment of tension and anxiety commonly known as Xanax) was determined to be in the victim’s blood. In addition, the carbon monoxide saturation was above 10%. These findings raised the question of how a person could have walked two kilometres and then jumped into the river while he was heavily sedated on alprazolam. If he had taken the medication with him and ingested it just prior to jumping in the river, then the empty container should have been found on him or nearby; but it was not found at all. The elevated level of carbon monoxide was also puzzling since the victim was a non-smoker. When confronted with these facts, the wife admitted that she had a lover and that together they had tried to get rid of her husband. First they spiked his “last meal” with ground tablets of alprazolam, hoping that it would kill him. The victim became unresponsive but survived. So they then placed him in the trunk of a car and drove him to the bank of the river and threw him in. His confinement in the car trunk explained his highly elevated carbon monoxide level. Both the wife and her lover were found guilty of murder and sentenced to prison.

If you are interested in a career as a specialist in Toxicology Services, then you must have a Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree in biochemistry, pharmacy, pharmacology, biopharmaceutical, forensic science or chemistry with pharmacology courses from a recognized university. A technologist in Toxicology Services requires a three-year diploma in biochemical technology or equivalent. Consult the Careers page for additional employment information.