Forensics Project Part IX: Poison Analysis

In class, we did an experiment where we tested various substances at six stations around the room to first identify whether the mixture was a poison and then determine whether the substances were the specific type of poison that station’s reagent was testing or not.  We were separated into groups of four and at each station there were specific reagents which would check for a certain type of poison: a household cleaning product, aspirin, cyanide, metal poison, sugar or iodine.  As we rotated around the room we would test the sample’s pH and its classification (household cleaning product, aspirin, cyanide, metal poison, sugar, iodine) and then record our results for each station.  Before we started the experiment however, we had a discussion in class about the various ways to poison somebody with little chance of being caught.  We learned that if one is trying to murder somebody who is diabetic, they can continuously feed them doses of sugar until they overdose.  We also learned that those with Thyroid conditions can be poisoned by iodine.  I thought this was rather interesting because the best way somebody could kill someone by poisoning is by making the murder look like an accident and these previous examples show just that.  Learning this allows me to better imagine what happened at a crime and know more about the different situations that could be encountered by crime scene investigators.