Personal Toxicology
CNCFTS Ltd specialise in offering high quality analytical and
interpretive forensic toxicology services. All analytical work is
undertaken by highly trained, vastly experienced staff at an
internationally accredited (ISO 17025) laboratory.
The forensic scientists who prepare and peer-review your reports are
experienced, home-office trained (ex-Forensic Science Service)
toxicologists.
The toxicologists have been involved in some of the UK's most
high-profile investigations and have many
years of court-going experience. Whilst employed at the Forensic Science
Service, the toxicologists were approved Authorised Analysts and
registered forensic practitioners.
Analytical services provided by CNCFTS Ltd include:
*Analysis
of blood or urine for the presence of drugs in relation to cases of
'Impaired Driving'
* Identification and quantification of drugs
in blood, urine and hair (including ethylglucuronide
- EtG determination)
CNCFTS Ltd toxicologists are available for consultancy work, offering
expert witness opinion on prosecution (or defence) reports/witness
statements.
The Services
Coroners Toxicology
CNCFTS Ltd provides an express, cost-effective analytical and interpretive service to a number of UK Coroners (including complimentary sample collection and packaging)
Urine
A urine sample is urine that has come from the bladder and can be provided or taken post-mortem. Many drugs have a higher concentration and can remain for much longer in urine than blood. Collection of urine samples can be taken in a noninvasive way and does not require professionals for collection. Urine is used for qualitative analysis as it cannot give any indication of impairment due to the fact that drug presence in urine only indicates prior exposure.Blood
A blood sample of approximately 10 ml (0.35 imp fl oz; 0.34 US fl oz) is usually sufficient to screen and confirm most common toxic substances. A blood sample provides the toxicologist with a profile of the substance that the subject was influenced by at the time of collection; for this reason, it is the sample of choice for measuring blood alcohol content in drunk driving cases.Hair sample
Hair is capable of recording medium to long-term or high dosage substance abuse. Chemicals in the bloodstream may be transferred to the growing hair and stored in the follicle, providing a rough timeline of drug intake events. Head hair grows at rate of approximately 1 to 1.5 cm a month, and so cross sections from different sections of the follicle can give estimates as to when a substance was ingested.