1. What is toxicology? Toxicology is the study of substances that cause adverse effects in humans or other organisms.2. Who was Mathieu Orfila? Mathieu Orfila was a Spanish born-chemist who published one of the first written works dedicated to the topic of poisons and medications.
3. What is strychnine? What symptoms does it cause? Strychnine is a seed that comes from the strychnine trees. The poison can cause painful cramps and muscle contractions, and can resemble seizures while the individual is aware and feeling ever bit of pain.4. What is percent saturation? Percent saturation is the ratio of hemoglobin that has been combined with carbon monoxide in comparison with oxygen.
5. What is aconite? What symptoms does it produce? Aconite comes from the aconite plant. It’s a white powder that produced and numb, tingling feeling when someone touches it.Critical Thinking Questions1. What characteristics do substances often have that make them attractive as a poison when someone wants to intentionally harm another person? The characteristics of substances that make it attractive to the person who wants to intentionally cause harm to another person would be something that mimics other illnesses, easy to hide in taste and odor, toxic in small quantities, easy to find, and easily administered.
2. Describe three different samples that can be used to test for poisons. What are the advantages and disadvantages of these samples? Three different samples that can be used to test for poisons would be blood, hair, and Organ tissue. Blood is one of the most useful toxicological samples. Hair can provide some indication of past exposure to toxins or poisons.
In organ tissue, toxic metals can collect in the tissue telling you that they were present.3. Why are poisons used less today than they were in the past? What factors influenced this change? Poisons are used less today than they were in the past because in the past it was hard to detect poison but now it’s not. The factors that influenced this change were that law enforcement officials and doctors can tell what poison was used.4. In addition to samples taken from a body, what other information or evidence could point to poisoning as the cause of death? Other events that could point to a poisoning in someone’s body are the way that they look, and the color pigment of their skin.
5. What are the challenges for forensic scientists in identifying poisons? The challenges that forensic scientist have in identifying poisons are taking samples to see which poison was used, and handling samples of tissue, organs or any other bodily material.
