Toxicology

Subspecialties: Toxicology, Alcohol analysis, Alcohol technical defence

Toxicologists analyse body fluids and/or tissues to establish whether drugs or poisons are present.

They have a good knowledge of human physiology and anatomy, and detailed understanding of drugs and poisons, their natural and manufactured forms, the way they behave and interact, and how to detect and measure them reliably. They can be expected to undertake any work within the field, including alcohol analyses and 'technical defences' (see below for explanation of this term) in which some who are not registered as toxicologists specialise.

Some non-toxicologists working in this field specialise in the analysis and interpretation of alcohol concentrations in breath and body fluids, especially in drink/driving cases.

The subspecialty of alcohol analysis in the register denotes those who provide statements for the courts in complex cases, rather than those merely involving the analysis of a sample and the issue of an unchallenged Certificate of Analysis - for example, where there is a question about any part of the analytical cycle: the collection, storage, integrity, preservation of samples, their analyses or the reports made on them.

The subspecialty of alcohol technical defence includes those who do back calculations of alcohol and analysis in cases where there is a question about how alcohol is handled in the body of an adult, in good health and of normal physique, who is taking no drugs which might alter the way they handle alcohol. The term 'technical defence' does not mean that such practitioners prepare reports only for the defence in a court case. In all cases the duty of registered practitioners is to the court, not to those instructing them.

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