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This chapter explores forensic toxicology as a multidisciplinary science that integrates chemistry, medicine, law, and public health to address the identification, interpretation, and management of toxic substances. It provides a comprehensive overview of the discipline, emphasizing its pivotal role in criminal investigations, public-health protection, environmental monitoring, and regulatory enforcement. The chapter discusses how toxicologists detect and quantify drugs, poisons, and emerging psychoactive substances in biological and environmental matrices, ensuring accuracy, reliability, and legal defensibility. Significant advances in analytical techniques, including gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS), have enhanced the detection of conventional and novel compounds, supporting investigations into death, poisoning, road traffic incidents, workplace exposures, and drug-facilitated crimes. Beyond forensic casework, the chapter highlights forensic toxicology’s contribution to monitoring global drug trends, guiding early-warning systems, supporting addiction treatment programs, and shaping policies for emerging high-risk substances such as synthetic opioids and benzodiazepines. The chapter also underscores the importance of legal rigor, detailing how strict chain-of-custody procedures, laboratory accreditation, and expert testimony ensure toxicological evidence withstands judicial scrutiny while safeguarding against wrongful convictions. In addition, it addresses environmental and public-health applications, including chemical incident response, pollution monitoring, and occupational safety assessments. Finally, the chapter examines international collaborations, professional networks, and standardization efforts that promote method validation, technology transfer, and training, enabling global preparedness for evolving chemical threats. By linking scientific rigor with legal accountability and public-health imperatives, forensic toxicology emerges as both a critical tool for justice and a cornerstone for safeguarding health and safety. This chapter, therefore, provides readers with an integrated understanding of the science, applications, and governance of modern forensic toxicology.

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Forensic Toxicology: Bridging Science, Law, and Public Health

  • 章节

  • 发表日期：

    2026年

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  • Abdul Khader Karakka Kal,
  • Michael Benedict Subhahar,
  • Tajudheen K. Karatt

摘要

This chapter explores forensic toxicology as a multidisciplinary science that integrates chemistry, medicine, law, and public health to address the identification, interpretation, and management of toxic substances. It provides a comprehensive overview of the discipline, emphasizing its pivotal role in criminal investigations, public-health protection, environmental monitoring, and regulatory enforcement. The chapter discusses how toxicologists detect and quantify drugs, poisons, and emerging psychoactive substances in biological and environmental matrices, ensuring accuracy, reliability, and legal defensibility. Significant advances in analytical techniques, including gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS), have enhanced the detection of conventional and novel compounds, supporting investigations into death, poisoning, road traffic incidents, workplace exposures, and drug-facilitated crimes. Beyond forensic casework, the chapter highlights forensic toxicology’s contribution to monitoring global drug trends, guiding early-warning systems, supporting addiction treatment programs, and shaping policies for emerging high-risk substances such as synthetic opioids and benzodiazepines. The chapter also underscores the importance of legal rigor, detailing how strict chain-of-custody procedures, laboratory accreditation, and expert testimony ensure toxicological evidence withstands judicial scrutiny while safeguarding against wrongful convictions. In addition, it addresses environmental and public-health applications, including chemical incident response, pollution monitoring, and occupational safety assessments. Finally, the chapter examines international collaborations, professional networks, and standardization efforts that promote method validation, technology transfer, and training, enabling global preparedness for evolving chemical threats. By linking scientific rigor with legal accountability and public-health imperatives, forensic toxicology emerges as both a critical tool for justice and a cornerstone for safeguarding health and safety. This chapter, therefore, provides readers with an integrated understanding of the science, applications, and governance of modern forensic toxicology.