NTL Record

Title Role of Metabolites in Aviation Forensic Toxicology
Record ID 39722
Personal Name
Creator
Chaturvedi, Arvind K.; Canfield, Dennis V.
Corporate Creator Civil Aeromedical Institute
Corporate
Contributor
United States. Office of Aviation Medicine
Publisher Civil Aerospace Medical Institute
Publication Date 19950800
Language English
Abstract In aviation accident investigations, specimens from fatal aircraft victims are analyzed for drugs. Their presence indicates exposure to drugs and suggests possible associated medical conditions for which they might have been taken. As drugs are mostly present in therapeutic to subtherapeutic levels in aviation forensic toxicology cases, determination of parent drugs and their metabolites in multispecimens is of significance. Although chemically reactive metabolites are difficult to detect, physiologically active and inactive metabolites can be analyzed. Selective and sensitive techniques are available, but unavailability of metabolite reference standards, endogenous substance interference, and low tissue metabolite levels limit the analyses. However, the majority of primary metabolites can be effectively characterized/quantitated. Demonstrating the presence of drug (e.g., terfenadine, cocaine, THC) metabolites provides a compelling evidence for exposure to the parent drug and facilitates interpretation of results, particularly when the metabolites are active. Such analyses are not as helpful if the metabolites are also available as drugs (e.g., diazepam, temazepam, oxazepam).
Rosap ID dot:21468
Rosap URL https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/21468
TRT Terms Crash investigation; Forensic medicine; Toxicology; Drugs; Fatalities
General Subjects Aircraft accidents--Investigation; Forensic toxicology; Drugs--Metabolism--Evaluation
Classification NTL - AVIATION - AVIATION
Geographical
Coverage
United States
Report Number DOT/FAA/AM-95/26
Resource type Tech Report
URL https://ntlrepository.blob.core.windows.net/lib/39000/39700/39722/AM95-26.pdf
Format PDF
Database NTL Digital Repository