Quantitative Analysis
What’s he taken?
Have you ever watched one of the hospital dramas on the television and heard one of the doctors shout, “we need a toxicology report – quick!”?
Maybe someone’s been rushed to A and E with stomach pains and the doctor is trying to find out if they’ve taken something. It makes a big difference to the action the doctor will take. And if the patient is unconscious the doctor can’t simply ask: “what have you taken?”
Doctors have to analyse blood and urine to find out what substances are present in the patient’s body. Then they need to find out how much of the substances are in the patient’s body.
Finding out what is present requires qualitative analysis. Finding out how much is present requires quantitative analysis.
Toxicology reports are also carried out by coroners to find out the person’s condition or the circumstances that may have influenced the cause of death.
They can find out if the dead person was under the influence of drugs or alcohol, for example. This is particularly important in cases such as suicide, and for criminal proceedings following road traffic accidents or murder.