Meeting challenges in forensic toxicology in Japan by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry

摘要

Since liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry(LC/MS)was introduced in the field of forensic toxicology in Japan,many challenges were condisered using this technique in an attempt to overcome the problems which remained unsolved using othertechniques such as gas chromatography (GC),liquid chromatography (LC)and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS).We here review the analytical challenges carried out in Japan using LC/MS from 1992 to 2002.The studied compounds include abused drugs,hypnotics,antipsyclotics,ethyl glucuronide,muscle relaxants,pesticides,surfactants,natural toxins such as tetrodotoxin and cardiac glycosides,etc.We slso descibe the background of ht research and some cases of poisoning which provided the opportunity to begin these researches.Althouth GC/MS and LC/diode array detector (DAD)are mainly used in Japan for compehensive screening and confirmation of drugs and poisons,the requirements of LC/MS inthe field of forensic toxicology is expected to increase.This field which makes use of LC/MS is indeed expanding.