Secret traces in the hair: Forensic toxicology reveals alcohol abuse

Secret traces in the hair: Forensic toxicology reveals alcohol abuse

In the world of forensic sciences, there are exciting developments that are of great importance for case law and society. As part of a medical senior lecture in Gießen, Prof. Sven Hartwig, a renowned forensic doctor, impressively presented how hair analyzes can contribute to clarifying legal questions. The head of the Institute for Forensic Medicine at the University Hospital Gießen and Marburg (UKGM) has been intensively concerned with the detection of alcohol consumption through hair analyzes in 2004 in 2004. According to fnp , the forensic toxicology is one of the disciplines that examine the effect and the detection of poisons and medication in the human body.

What exactly makes hair analysis so special? Save hair over longer periods of substances, which means that you can provide valuable information on the consumption of drugs or alcohol. This method has proven itself particularly in determining long -term alcohol abuse. The analysis of hair samples can not only uncover abstinence controls and drug offenses, but also be of great importance in family law disputes. In particular, alcohol consumer markers such as ethyl glucuronide (ETG) and ethylpalmitat (ETPA) provide essential information about the course of consumption.

insights into forensic toxicology

Forensic toxicology has developed enormously since its beginning in the 19th century when the first cases of poisoning were documented. Over 20 million toxic substances have been researched in recent decades, of which around 100,000 are used regularly. The analysis is not only the focus of the clarification of suspected poisoning cases, but also the assessment of the guilt or the driving suitability of people who are under the influence of drugs. Prof. Hartwig emphasizes that hair analyzes offer long-term and reliable results in contrast to blood or urine tests, which makes it a valuable instrument.

It is particularly difficult according to Charité to diagnose chronic alcohol consumption, as this is often not easy in clinical practice. Precise detection methods would be particularly important for the detection of early stages of alcoholism. The working group has in recent years z. B. described the analytical recording of fatty acid ethyl esters (FSE) in hair that represent direct, non -oxidative products of ethanol metabolism.

modern analysis methods and challenges

The developed analysis methods in forensic toxicology include immunchemical methods as well as quantitative and semi -quantitative mass spectrometric processes. If drug abuse is suspected, an immunchemical screening is carried out first, the positive results of which must then be subjected to a proven chromatographic analysis, such as the University Clinic Bonn explained.

The complexity and social relevance of forensic toxicology is also evident in dealing with over 20 million known toxic substances that are not only important in individual cases, but also influence the entire legal and health system. The possibilities that hair analysis offers are large, but they come with challenges, such as the influencing factors such as hair color, hair cosmetics and UV radiation that can influence the analysis results.

Overall, there is a lot to discover in the interlinking of science, law and society, and the topic of forensic toxicology with a focus on hair analyzes will probably be busy for a long time.