Toxicology Subcommittee

Credit: A. Getz/NIST

Officers | Members | Standards | Discipline-Specific Baseline Documents | Research & Development Needs | Presentations

The Toxicology Subcommittee focuses on standards and guidelines related to the analysis of biological samples for alcohol, drugs, or poisons, and the interpretation of these results.  

Officers

Melissa Kennedy, Subcommittee Chair, ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board

Marc LeBeau, Ph.D., Subcommittee Vice Chair, Federal Bureau of Investigation

Madeline Montgomery, Subcommittee Executive Secretary, Federal Bureau of Investigation

Members

Affiliate and Task Group Participants

Toxicology Roadmap

Standards

Tier 1: On the OSAC Registry

• 
  ANSI/ASB Standard 017, Standard Practices for Measurement Traceability in Forensic Toxicology, First Edition, 2018 (effective June 18, 2019).
• ANSI/ASB Standard 036, Standard Practices for Method Validation in Forensic Toxicology, First Edition, 2019 (effective July 7, 2020).
• ANSI/ASB 037, Best Practice Recommendation, Guidelines for Opinions and Testimony in Forensic Toxicology, First Edition, 2019 (effective November 5, 2019).

Tier 2: Published by an SDO

• ANSI/ASB Standard 017, Standard Practices for Measurement Traceability in Forensic Toxicology, First Edition, 2018.
• ANSI/ASB Standard 036, Standard Practices for Method Validation in Forensic Toxicology, First Edition, 2019. 
• ANSI/ASB Best Practice Recommendation 037, Guidelines for Opinions and Testimony in Forensic Toxicology, First Edition 2019.
• ANSI/ASB Standard 053, Standard for Report Content in Forensic Toxicology, First Edition, 2019.

Tier 3: Sent to an SDO 

• Standard for a Quality Control Program in Forensic Toxicology Laboratories.
• Standard for Breath Alcohol Measuring Instrument Calibration.
• Standard for Mass Spectral Data Acceptance in Forensic Toxicology.
• Standard for Identification Criteria in Forensic Toxicology.
• Standard for the Analytical Scope and Sensitivity of Forensic Toxicology Testing for Medicolegal Death Investigations.
• Standard for the Analytical Scope and Sensitivity of Forensic Toxicology Testing in Impaired Driving Investigations.
• Standard for the Analytical Scope and Sensitivity of Forensic Toxicology Urine Testing in Drug-Facilitated Crime Investigations​​​.
• Standard for Minimum Content Requirements of Forensic Toxicology Procedures. 
• Standard Practices for Proficiency Testing of Forensic Toxicology Laboratories.

Tier 4: Under Development

• Standard for Evaluating Measurement Uncertainty of Quantitative Measurements in Forensic Toxicology.
• Standard for Breath Alcohol Instrument Specifications.
• Guidelines for Performing Alcohol Calculations in Forensic Toxicology.
• Guidelines for Specimen Collection and Preservation in Forensic Toxicology.

Discipline-Specific Baseline Documents

The Forensic Science Standards Board (FSSB) has provided the opportunity for OSAC Subcommittees to identify baseline documents and reference materials that best reflect the current state of the practice within their respective disciplines. 

These documents contain practical information regarding these disciplines that can help forensic scientists, judges, lawyers, researchers, other interested parties and the general public, to better understand the nature, scope, and foundations of the individual disciplines as they are currently practiced.

It is important to note that the identification of these documents in this venue does not represent an endorsement by OSAC or NIST.  Only documents that are posted on the OSAC Registries constitute OSAC endorsement. All copyrights for these documents are reserved by their owners. Subcommittee position statements or responses to data collections by the subcommittee represent the consensus opinion of the subcommittee, not necessarily the position of the entire OSAC organization or NIST.

• Primer on Forensic Toxicology.
• Scientific Working Group for Forensic Toxicology (SWGTOX) Standard for Laboratory Personnel.
• Scientific Working Group for Forensic Toxicology (SWGTOX) Standard for Breath Alcohol Personnel.

Research & Development Needs

• See the Research & Development Needs identified by the Toxicology subcommittee.

Presentations

• None currently.

In general, the development of standards and guidelines is transitioning from the Scientific Working Groups (SWGs) to the OSAC. Some SWGs will continue to operate to provide other resources within their discipline. The existing SWG documents will remain in effect until updated documents are disseminated by the OSAC or the SWG. SWGDAM will retain the responsibility for updating the FBI DNA Quality Assurance Standards.

– Forensic Science Standards Board: March 2015