The Toxpod

The California Association of Toxicologists Spring meeting has been postponed due to COVID restrictions, but that won't stop us from chatting with some of the planned speakers!

Thanks to Luke Rodda, Jarrad Wagner, Juliet Kinyua and Alan Wu for participating in this episode.


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Find out more about TIAFT at www.tiaft.org

The Toxpod is a production of The International Association of Forensic Toxicologists. The opinions expressed by the hosts are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of TIAFT.

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We talk about synthetic cannabinoids (or is that SCRAs?) with medicinal chemist Samuel Banister.


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Find out more about TIAFT at www.tiaft.org

The Toxpod is a production of The International Association of Forensic Toxicologists. The opinions expressed by the hosts are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of TIAFT.

You can send us a text message using this link!

We look at 5 recent publications in the field of toxicology.

1. Blanckaert, P. et al. Report on a novel emerging class of highly potent benzimidazole NPS opioids: Chemical and in vitro functional characterization of isotonitazene. (2020) Drug Testing and Analysis. 12: 422-430
2. Reinstadler, V. et al. A validated workflow for drug detection in oral fluid by non-targeted liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. (2019) Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry. 411:867-876
3. Benaglia, L. et al. Testing wastewater from a music festival in Switzerland to assess illicit drug use. (2020) Forensic Science International. 309:1-8
4. Munoz-Munoz, A. et al. Characterization of an Amphetamine Interference from Gabapentin in an LC–HRMS Method. (2020) Journal of Analytical Toxicology. 44:36-40
5. Darke, S. et al. Characteristics and circumstances of death related to gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB). (2020) Clinical Toxicology. Published online 18 Feb 2020. 

Contact us at [email protected]

Find out more about TIAFT at www.tiaft.org

The Toxpod is a production of The International Association of Forensic Toxicologists. The opinions expressed by the hosts are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of TIAFT.

You can send us a text message using this link!

Season 3 drops on April 29. 

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In our last episode of the season, we look at 5 recent publications in the field of toxicology.

1. Steuer, A. et al. Identification of new urinary gamma-hydroxybutyric acid markers applying untargeted metabolomics analysis following placebo-controlled administration to humans. (2019) Drug Testing and Analysis. 11 (6):813-823
2. Souza, R. et al. Validation of an analytical method for the determination of the main ayahuasca active compounds and application to real ayahuasca samples from Brazil. (2019) Journal of Chromatography B. 1124: 197-203
3.  Snamina, M. et al. Postmortem analysis of human bone marrow aspirate - Quantitative determination of SSRI and SNRI drugs. (2019) Talanta. 204:607-612
4. Fabresse, N. et al. Development of a sensitive untargeted liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry screening devoted to hair analysis through a shared MS2 spectra database: A step toward early detection of new psychoactive substances. (2019) Drug Testing and Analysis. 11 (5):697-708
5. Sitasuwan, P. et al. Comparison of purified beta-glucuronidases in patient urine samples indicates a lack of correlation between enzyme activity and drugs of abuse metabolite hydrolysis efficiencies leading to potential false negatives.(2019) Journal of Analytical Toxicology. 43 (3):221-227

Contact us at [email protected]

Find out more about TIAFT at www.tiaft.org

The Toxpod is a production of The International Association of Forensic Toxicologists. The opinions expressed by the hosts are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of TIAFT.

You can send us a text message using this link!

In this episode, we dive into the techniques, practices, and guidelines used in forensic toxicology for drug identification. Do we have the balance right?

Some of the available identification guidelines:
World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)
European Workplace Drug Testing Society (EWDTS)
Organisation of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC)
Gesellschaft für Toxikologische und Forensische Chemie (GTFCh)

That article Pete mentioned on amphetamine isomers:
Brown, D. H., et al. (2016). "Beta-methylphenylethylamines: common fragmentation pathways with amphetamines in electrospray ionization collision-induced dissociation." Drug Test Anal 8(3-4): 344-350.

Contact us at [email protected]

Find out more about TIAFT at www.tiaft.org

The Toxpod is a production of The International Association of Forensic Toxicologists. The opinions expressed by the hosts are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of TIAFT.

You can send us a text message using this link!

During his recent trip to the TIAFT2019 conference in Birmingham, England, Peter caught up with a few toxicologists to discuss some of their recent work.

Barry Logan's group has published their findings on kratom

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Contact us at [email protected]

Find out more about TIAFT at www.tiaft.org

The Toxpod is a production of The International Association of Forensic Toxicologists. The opinions expressed by the hosts are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of TIAFT.

You can send us a text message using this link!

Peter is joined by toxicologists Sarah Wille (Belgium) and Luke Rodda (USA) to discuss how the field of toxicology is changing and where it will lead us. Recorded live at TIAFT2019 in Birmingham, England.

Contact us at [email protected]

Find out more about TIAFT at www.tiaft.org

The Toxpod is a production of The International Association of Forensic Toxicologists. The opinions expressed by the hosts are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of TIAFT.

You can send us a text message using this link!

The world of scientific publishing is a mysterious place - even to many who publish regularly! How does reviewing work? What are predatory journals? Why should scientists write?

We are joined by Professor Roger Byard (forensic pathologist, prolific writer, and editor-in-chief of Forensic Science, Medicine and Pathology) as we peek behind the curtain of the publishing world.


Roger's editorial - The forensic implications of predatory publishing

ABC Radio podcast on predatory publishing


Contact us at [email protected]

Find out more about TIAFT at www.tiaft.org

The Toxpod is a production of The International Association of Forensic Toxicologists. The opinions expressed by the hosts are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of TIAFT.

You can send us a text message using this link!

We are joined by Dimitri Gerostamoulos, Head of Forensic Science and Chief Toxicologist at the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine.


Contact us at [email protected]

Find out more about TIAFT at www.tiaft.org

The Toxpod is a production of The International Association of Forensic Toxicologists. The opinions expressed by the hosts are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of TIAFT.

You can send us a text message using this link!