Problems of Forensic Sciences 2008 Vol. 75 (LXXV) 228-246
PROBLEMS FACED BY THE ANALYST-TOXICOLOGIST IN THE AGE OF HYPHENATED TECHNIQUES
Maria KAŁA
Institute of Forensic Research, Krakow, Poland
Streszczenie
Poisons are as old as humanity. It is a well-known fact that poisons have been used for centuries for various purposes, but for a long time it was impossible to detect their presence in biological materials. Since the times of Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim Paracelsus, James Marsh, Matthew Orfila and Jean Servais Stas, our understanding of toxicology has improved progressively. Numerous ideas put forward by the pioneers of chemical toxicology remain valid today. In recent times, outstanding toxicologists such as Alan Curry (1925–2007), Irving Sunshine (1916–2006) and others, have made considerable efforts and stimulated each other to further the development of analytical toxicology. A growing number of new synthesised compounds and alternative matrices for biological sampling have been introduced. New analytical technologies have been developed enabling use of reliable methods to identify and quantify many toxicologically relevant substances with very low limits of detection and quantification. Among them are hyphenated mass spectrometric techniques, particularly gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), which have become indispensable tools in clinical and forensic toxicology. Progress in analytical toxicology, concepts and procedures using the GC-MS and LC-MS techniques for screening of modern drugs with respect to their consumption patterns, the role of mass spectral libraries and analytical pitfalls are presented and discussed.
Słowa kluczowe
Modern drug scene; GC-MS; LC-MS; Forensic and clinical toxicology.