Screening For Unknown Compounds in Forensic Toxicology

The purpose of postmortem forensic toxicological analysis is to determine the role of any unknown drug/poison in causing death. The first and the most important step in the analysis scheme is the screening of biological specimens for the presence of drugs/poison. Currently, general unknown screening (GUS) or systemic toxicological analysis (STA) procedure involves gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). However, non volatile or thermolabile compounds cannot be accurately analyzed on GC-MS. Therefore liquid chromatography with mass detector (LC-MS) could complement GC-MS for unknown drug screen. Both GC and LC techniques have inherent limitations that prevent the detection of certain types of compounds. Recent developments in analytical techniques especially in triple quad, ion trap and time of flight mass spectrometers have improved the sensitivity and specificity for targeted and untargeted screening of drugs, pesticides and other relevant compounds.