Forensic Toxicology

This is a Toxcup. It is a presumptive screening test for common drugs of abuse in urine. The urine is put in the cup section, and then the clever little lid is screwed on before the device is laid on it's side. This allows the flow of urine up strips of (what I imagine to be) paper impregnated with some kind of enzyme. When drugs of abuse are present, they act in a way as to block the reaction of the enzyme with (what I imagine to be) a substrate which would otherwise form a coloured line to appear. Therefore, the presence of drugs of abuse is indicated by the lack of a line in the test area; and the accurate working of the test is indicated by a coloured line in the control region.

I got this device at a forensic toxicology conference I went to, and this particular one detects amphetamine, cocaine, methamphetamine, phencyclidine (PCP), tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and opiates. As my beautiful boyfriend is currently taking tramadol (an opiate) for his nasty wrist break, I thought I'd try it out, even though it's technically expired.

The results indicate a presumptive positive for opiates (expected) and PCP -which I'll put down to either cross-reactivity or the expired nature of the device, seeing as he's far too mellow to be strung out on angel dust.

I miss the good ole days of my MSc. Such an interesting subject.