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Preface to second edition
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Preface to the second edition
This book is dedicated to late Dr. Irving Sunshine, The Grandfather of modern forensic toxicology, and teacher of many generations of us.
The methods and procedures used in forensic sciences depend on the development of techniques having the highest possible reliability. Because of the importance and consequences of their expert evidence and their great sense of responsibility, forensic scientists often adopt a critical and cautious attitude to new methods. Nevertheless, this professional caution does not prevent the forensic society from rapidly adopting all the new techniques that have been proved to be reliable scientific tools in various disciplines. In the six years that have elapsed since the publication of the first edition of this volume, several such techniques have been widely implemented in forensic practice, the skyrocketing popularity of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry being the best example. Therefore, the need for this new edition was recognized by the publisher, and it is hoped that it will be accepted by prospective readers. Recent years have also seen an enormous growth in public interest in forensic methods and disciplines, almost certainly stimulated by some spectacular criminal cases. With this interest has also come an increase in expectations as can be seen in various television serials and novels, which show infallible forensic experts who solve all possible problems within hours, with the help of very complicated but also very easy methods. Another important factor that has given rise to this increasing interest in forensic sciences is the worldwide spread of the most dangerous forms of organized crime, such as international terrorism and drug trafficking. The general public feels that forensic experts are in the forefront of the fight against these plagues of the modern world. The general outline of this book has not changed: it is mainly devoted to the analysis of the most important groups of drugs and poisons. However, some new important fields have emerged in recent years. Therefore, in the part of the volume devoted to actual and emerging problems of forensic toxicology, new topics are dealt with, such as the analytical aspects of alcohol markers, toxicology of herbal
vi
Preface to the second edition
remedies, and pharmacogenomics applied to forensic toxicology. The previously existing fields of application such as drugs and driving, the analysis of unconventional matrices, doping analysis, and quality assurance have again been covered, as in the previous edition. Special emphasis in this edition has been placed on toxicological screening. Analytical screening procedures are among the basic strategies of forensic toxicology, and are presented in detail in six chapters, covering the most important chromatographic methods, such as GC, GC-MS, HPLC, LC-MS, CE, and LC-ICPMS. Additionally, in each chapter dealing with particular groups of drugs, preliminary methods (mainly immunoassays) are presented along with separation methods. This might look out of place in a volume devoted to analytical separations, but in forensic practice it is impossible to separate preliminary methods like immunoassays, from the confirmative ones like chromatographic procedures. In the part of the book devoted to forensic chemistry, the analysis of explosives, of chemical warfare agents, of fire debris in arson cases and writing media is presented. The book concludes with chapters dealing with forensic genetics applied to the identification of individuals and biological traces. The choice of topics and the highlighting of particular problems is always a matter of subjective preference by the person responsible, in this case the editor. He must accept the criticism that is unavoidably caused by omitting some important themes, but it must be kept in mind that forensic science is such a multi-faceted discipline that it is not possible to cover everything in a single volume, however large. The authors of the chapters are the pioneers in their fields, both as scientists and as case experts. Their wisdom, knowledge, experience, and very active collaboration has made this work possible. As an editor, I feel very happy and honored to have had the opportunity of working with such a distinguished team. I would like to express my thanks to Roger M. Smith, Series Editor, and to Elsevier Science Publishing, for entrusting me with this volume again, and for all their support during the entire preparation process. Maciej J.Bogusz
Preface to the second edition
This book is dedicated to late Dr. Irving Sunshine, The Grandfather of modern forensic toxicology, and teacher of many generations of us.
The methods and procedures used in forensic sciences depend on the development of techniques having the highest possible reliability. Because of the importance and consequences of their expert evidence and their great sense of responsibility, forensic scientists often adopt a critical and cautious attitude to new methods. Nevertheless, this professional caution does not prevent the forensic society from rapidly adopting all the new techniques that have been proved to be reliable scientific tools in various disciplines. In the six years that have elapsed since the publication of the first edition of this volume, several such techniques have been widely implemented in forensic practice, the skyrocketing popularity of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry being the best example. Therefore, the need for this new edition was recognized by the publisher, and it is hoped that it will be accepted by prospective readers. Recent years have also seen an enormous growth in public interest in forensic methods and disciplines, almost certainly stimulated by some spectacular criminal cases. With this interest has also come an increase in expectations as can be seen in various television serials and novels, which show infallible forensic experts who solve all possible problems within hours, with the help of very complicated but also very easy methods. Another important factor that has given rise to this increasing interest in forensic sciences is the worldwide spread of the most dangerous forms of organized crime, such as international terrorism and drug trafficking. The general public feels that forensic experts are in the forefront of the fight against these plagues of the modern world. The general outline of this book has not changed: it is mainly devoted to the analysis of the most important groups of drugs and poisons. However, some new important fields have emerged in recent years. Therefore, in the part of the volume devoted to actual and emerging problems of forensic toxicology, new topics are dealt with, such as the analytical aspects of alcohol markers, toxicology of herbal
vi
Preface to the second edition
remedies, and pharmacogenomics applied to forensic toxicology. The previously existing fields of application such as drugs and driving, the analysis of unconventional matrices, doping analysis, and quality assurance have again been covered, as in the previous edition. Special emphasis in this edition has been placed on toxicological screening. Analytical screening procedures are among the basic strategies of forensic toxicology, and are presented in detail in six chapters, covering the most important chromatographic methods, such as GC, GC-MS, HPLC, LC-MS, CE, and LC-ICPMS. Additionally, in each chapter dealing with particular groups of drugs, preliminary methods (mainly immunoassays) are presented along with separation methods. This might look out of place in a volume devoted to analytical separations, but in forensic practice it is impossible to separate preliminary methods like immunoassays, from the confirmative ones like chromatographic procedures. In the part of the book devoted to forensic chemistry, the analysis of explosives, of chemical warfare agents, of fire debris in arson cases and writing media is presented. The book concludes with chapters dealing with forensic genetics applied to the identification of individuals and biological traces. The choice of topics and the highlighting of particular problems is always a matter of subjective preference by the person responsible, in this case the editor. He must accept the criticism that is unavoidably caused by omitting some important themes, but it must be kept in mind that forensic science is such a multi-faceted discipline that it is not possible to cover everything in a single volume, however large. The authors of the chapters are the pioneers in their fields, both as scientists and as case experts. Their wisdom, knowledge, experience, and very active collaboration has made this work possible. As an editor, I feel very happy and honored to have had the opportunity of working with such a distinguished team. I would like to express my thanks to Roger M. Smith, Series Editor, and to Elsevier Science Publishing, for entrusting me with this volume again, and for all their support during the entire preparation process. Maciej J.Bogusz