Challenges in forensic toxicology

Interpol review of forensic management, 2019-2022

This paper reviews and summarizes the forensic management literature from late 2019 to late 2022, covering laboratory strategic, tactical and operational decision-making, benchmarking, quality assurance, and managerial impacts from technological developments.

Continued Anticoagulant Rodenticide Exposure of Red-tailed Hawks (Buteo jamaicensis) in the Northeastern United States with an Evaluation of Serum for Biomonitoring

Prior studies (2006-2016) in birds of prey admitted to a wildlife clinic in Massachusetts, USA, revealed widespread exposure to second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs) among red-tailed hawks (Buteo jamaicensis, RTHAs). Continued monitoring of species for which historic data are available can reveal trends in exposure that aid in evaluating the effectiveness of risk-mitigation measures. While the majority of exposure-monitoring studies utilize liver tissue collected postmortem, antemortem modalities, such as serum analysis, may be desirable for risk assessments in certain populations. However, the sensitivity of serum for detecting anticoagulant rodenticides (ARs) is not well studied. Paired liver and serum samples from 43 RTHAs were evaluated from 2017 to 2019. In liver tissue, 100% of birds were positive for ARs, with the SGARs brodifacoum, bromadiolone, and difethialone identified most frequently; 91% of birds had liver residues of 2 to 4 ARs. These findings represent the highest exposure both to ARs overall and to multiple ARs in RTHAs compared to previous studies. All birds diagnosed with AR toxicosis (n = 14) were positive for ARs in serum; however, all subclinically exposed birds (n = 29) were negative in serum. These data show that exposure to SGARs remains widespread in RTHAs in this geographic area. In addition, although serum analysis is not sensitive for detecting sublethal exposures in RTHAs, it can potentially support a diagnosis of AR toxicosis in conjunction with other consistent signs. Environ Toxicol Chem 2020;39:2325-2335. © 2020 SETAC.