Activities of the Unit for Forensic Chemistry and Toxicology of The
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ANALYTICAL SCIENCE IN SWITZERLAND 780 CHIMIA 5/ (1997) Nr. 10(Okloher) Chimia 5/ (/997) 780-78/ nized quality standards and continuous © Neue Schweizerische Chemische Gesellschaft education and training pertain to the six ISSN 0009-4293 laboratories of the Institutes of Legal Med- icine. These are located in Basel, Bern, Geneva, Lausanne, S1.Gallen, and Zurich. Activities of the Unit for Our Unit's 54 members meet 2 to 3 times a year and hold their annual scientif- Forensic Chemistry and ic meeting together with the Swiss Society of Legal Medicine, during Summer times. Toxicology of the Swiss Society The actual elected coordinator of our sec- tion is Dr. Thomas Briellmann, head of the of Legal Medicine Toxicology Laboratory at the Institute of Legal Medicine in Basel, to whom any interested person can write. Our Unit is Laurent Rivier* divided into four groups, each member of the Unit can take part to more than one group's discussions. These are today: Abstract. In Switzerland, analytical toxicology and chemistry in the Forensic Medicine - toxicology, including dri ving under the are scientifically organized around the Swiss Society of Legal Medicine. These influence of drugs: 38 members specialized fields of activity in service analyses, development and research are mainly (Dr. C. Staub, IML, Geneva) concentrated within the six laboratories of the actual university's institutes dedicated - analysis of drugs of abuse or 'pow- for Legal Medicine in Basel, Bern, Geneva, Lausanne, St. Gallen, and Zurich. Forensic ders': 25 members chemistry and toxicology are routinely dealing with the latest developments in (Dr. W. Bernhard, IRM, Bern) analytical chemistry, using mainly very selective methods relying on tandem intrumen- - alcool and driving: 25 members tal techniques like GCIMS or LCIMS in order to provide analytical results with the level (Dr. med. D. Castelli, Lab. Bioanalyti- of quality requested by the Justice. co, Lugano) - heads of the 'official forensic toxicol- ogy laboratories': 6 members The Unit for Forensic Chemistry and - Laboratories linked to Universities, (PD Dr. L. Rivier, IUML, Lausanne) Toxicology is part of the Swiss Society of mainly within the Faculties of medi- This last group has recently been in- Legal Medicine. This scientific society cme, volved in the redaction of a consensus can be divided into various specialities - laboratories attached to the Depart- report for 'Guidelines for the analysis of including so far: Forensic Pathology and ments of Justice or Health, and, drugs of abuse' published in a special Ondotology, Forensic Haemogenetics and - private laboratories. issue of LaboLife 1997, the official publi- Forensic Chemistry and Toxicology. After their studies at the university, cation of the Swiss Union of Laboratory In our Country, the activities in this chemists or other diplomees from related Medicine. specialized field of analytical toxicology disciplines have no practical experience at At the international level, our mem- for forensic purposes are quite particular all in the detection of poisons in various bers maintain close and continuous co~- due to the responsabilities given to each samples including biological matrices. nections with many colleagues from all Canton's authorities in term of Justice. They might have acquired only very lim- over the world, specially through the sci- Thus, each Canton has its own organiza- ited theoretical knowledge about what are entific meetings organized annually by tion and refers to a specific laboratory. forensic chemistry and toxicology made the main scientific societies namely: Our members, chemists, biochemists, bi- from as these branches are not part of the - The International Association of Fo- ologists or pharmacists, and laboratory actual programme of studies. Indeed, most rensic Toxicologists (TIAFT, Dr. L. technicians can be classified belonging of the 'information' may have been gath- Rivier is the regional representative). for the largest majority to three kind of ered from unreliable sources like criminal Interesting details on its activities can institutions: books and newspapers by private read- be obtained through the following web mgs. address: http://www.cbft.unipd.itltiaft/. Complet post-graduate formation is - The 'Gesellschaft fUr Toxikologische thus mandatory. This can be achieved only und Forensische Chemie' (GFTCh, re- at specialized forensic toxicology labora- presented in our Country by Dr. T. tories within a minimum of one year full BrieLlmann), in Germany, time training. Mastering the most advanced - the Society of Forensic Toxicology techniques of samples preparation, purifi- (SOFT) in the USA, and, *Correspondence: Dr. L. Rivier cation procedures, derivatization, separa- - the 'Societe Franc;aise de Toxicologie PD et Maitre d'enseignement tion and finally characterization of the Analytique' (SFT A, represented in our Scientific Director of the Laboratory detected molecules are just the basis. Ad- Country by Dr. C. Giroud, IUML, of Analytical Toxicology and of the ditional experiences in pharmacokinetic Lausanne) in France. Swiss Laboratory for Analysis of Doping and training in the interpretation of the In 1996, Dr. W. Bernhard from IRM, Institute of Legal Medicine of the University results are mandatory as well as experi- Bern has organized a very successful Rue du Bugnon 21 ence in reporting to tribunal's courts. Prac- TIAFT Congress in Interlaken and Dr. CH-1005 Lausanne Tel.:+412\ 3147330 tical experience is in this context invalua- P. [ten from IRM, ZUrich was participat- Fax: +4121 3147333 ble. Understandingly, leading positions ing in the organization of the annual E-Mail: [email protected] for implementing internationally recog- Congress of the 'Deutsche Gesellschaft ANALYTICAL SCIENCE IN SWITZERLAND 781 CHIMIA 51 (1997) Nr. 10 (Oklober) fur Rechtsmedizin' which was hold in Theforensic chemists will mainly deal samples should be properly obtained, Zurich. with the analyses of drug of abuse exhibits placed in appropriate containers, sealed, We have been also very active in these taken by the Police orat Customs. Toxins signed and dated. Storage is organized to different societies, presenting many sci- in general, explosives and fire accelerants keep degradation as low as possible (usu- entific papers and posters at each annual are also often encountered. After deter- ally at -20°). meeting and when several critical recom- mining the quality of the drug (including Qualitative techniques should be as mendations for good laboratory practice adulterants like Paracetamol, Caffeine and simple as possible divided between two in specific fields of application have been Procaine, and diluents like sugars, e.g.), different approaches: screening and con- prepared. The latest of these recommen- the exact amount of drug of abuse, as firmation. Immuno-assays, TLC, GC, dations deals with the detection of illicit stated in the Swiss law should be accurate- HPLC and GC-MS have been used alone drugs in urine in the European Union with ly determined. From these figures, differ- or in combination in order to cover an as special attention to the workplace and has entiation between a simple consumer and wide as possible range of substances. For been published in theTIAFfBulletin Vol. a trafficant can be well set. New design- confirmation, mass spectrometry (GC-MS, 27, No.2, 1997. Some of our members' ers'drugs have requested additional ana- GC-MS/MS and, more recently LC-MS laboratories are in the process of obtaining lytical skills and gave more importance to and LC-MSfMS) is the golden standard. the ISO Guide 25 Accreditation. the role of these specialists in health serv- Specific libraries of reference mass spec- At a national level, we are organizing ices. Most often the pills sold in the black tra are available, the use of which, together for our own use and at regular intervals market contain substances quite different with computerized search aids give a very since several years Quali ty Controls drawn from what it is believed, and if present, the powerful analytical approach. specificly to fit the needs of our field of quantity of the active substance might be Quantification techniques are general- expertise. As commercially available so- quite variable. Natural products as plants ly made with an instrumentation different lutions are most of the time not available, are also considered and, e.g., Cannabis from the ones used for qualitative analy- or they do not satisfy our specific require- sativa L. plantations can be clearly classi- ses. GC, HPLC and GC-MS using stable ments, we have produced ourselves the fied between the fibber and the drug types. isotope internal standard are most often necessary samples which behave as close Finally, clandestine laboratories might be used. as possible to the real life specimens. In search for illegal activities by the charac- Finally, the validation of these proce- order to cope with the most objective terization of residues from previous syn- dures are only obtained after publications approach of this very important issue, we thesis' processes. of all methods used in scientifically peers collaborate with the Swiss Centre for the Theforensic toxicologist will analyze reviewed and internationally reputed jour- Quality Controls in Geneva (Dr. A. Deom, biological specimens (body fluids, tissues, nals as 1Anal. Toxico!.; Forensic Sci. Director). etc.) for xenobiotics and other compounds Int.; Int. J. Legal Med.; J. Forensic Sci.; which might have impregnated a person Med.