The Tox Lab

What happens when scientific curiosity crosses ethical boundaries? In this week's episode, we examine the infamous 1962 experiment involving Tusko the elephant and a massive dose of LSD, discuss what went wrong, and what we can learn from this cautionary tale. Hope you enjoy! Links to papers we've discussed: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.138.3545.1100 https://link.springer.com/articl...

As the New Year kicks off, countless resolutions center around weight loss and fitness. But in the quest for quick results, how far is too far? In this week's episode, we dive into the dark side of two substances, caffeine and 2,4-dinitrophenol (2,4 DNP), and how their misuse in the world of fitness can have deadly consequences. Hope you enjoy! Links to papers we've discussed: https://casereports....

Have you ever wondered how toxic your festive flora is? Does Nutmeg have a dark side? In this week's episode, we discuss poinsettia, holly, and mistletoe to try and determine if they really are as toxic as we are all led to believe. We also talk about nutmeg and its potential for abuse. We will be taking a break for a couple of weeks after this episode but will be back on the 6th of January. Hope...

In this week's episode we aim to answer the question: can people really be trusted to report their own drug use? We discuss a paper by Wolfe et al. which looks at self-reported drug use compared to the results of laboratory testing from patients presenting to a london emergency department with acute drug toxicity. Hope you enjoy! Link to the paper we've discussed: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/f...

In this week's episode, we discuss the methanol poisonings in Laos, and a paper by Doreen et al. which covers methanol poisoning from contaminated alcohol in Uganda in 2017. Hope you enjoy! Links to papers we have discussed: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7204301/

In this week’s episode we discuss a paper by Linqvist et al. on Swedish poisoning deaths from 2000-2022 and a paper by Rhode et al. on sauna deaths in Sweden. Is there a link between carbon monoxide deaths and saunas? Hope you enjoy! Papers we have discussed: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bcpt.14097 https://journals.lww.com/amjforensicmedicine/abstract/2008/03000/sauna_deaths_in_swed...

In this week’s episode, we discuss a paper by Ellefsen et al. on Bromazolam detections in post-mortem cases in Travis County Texas, and a paper by Mérette et al. on Desalkylgidazepam detections in forensic investigations in British Columbia. Hope you enjoy! Papers we have discussed: https://academic.oup.com/jat/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/jat/bkae079/7756913?redirectedFrom=fulltext https:...

In this week's episode, we discuss a paper by Kopra et al. covering psychedelic- related deaths in England, Wales and Northern Ireland over a 25 year period and a paper by Palamar et al. on 'shrooms' seizures in the US from 2017-2022. We also discuss a paper by Abrams et al. which talks about the different effects seen in spinal cord injury patients after serotonergic psychedelic use. Hope you enj...

In this week’s episode, we discuss the recently published ONS data on deaths related to drug poisonings in England and Wales in 2023. We also discuss a paper by Jørgensen et al. on semi-synthetic cannabinoids in cannabis products in Eastern a Denmark, and a case series by Lefeuvre et al. on N-Ethylhexedrone. Hope you enjoy! Links to the papers we have discussed:  https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopul...

In this week’s episode we discuss the recent OHID report talking about synthetic opioid deaths in England. We also discuss a paper by Bedard et al. talking about Xylazine withdrawal in mice and its receptor binding activity, and a paper by Love et al. discussing how Xylazine alters opioid overdose patient’s outcomes.  Hope you enjoy! Links to the papers we have discussed: https://www.gov.uk/govern...