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Toxicological studies: basic toxicological methods
Last reviewed: 05.07.2025
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Toxicological studies play a key role in the diagnosis of various poisonings. When conducting specific toxicological studies, it is very important to obtain test results in the shortest possible time (1-2 hours). Currently, the following methods are most widely used to solve this problem: gas chromatography (GC), gas spectrometry with mass spectrometry (GC-MS), liquid chromatography under high pressure (LC), thin-layer chromatography (TL), kinetic interaction of microparticles in solution (KI), ELISA (EIA), ELISA with monoclonal AT (CEDIA), RIA, fluorescence polarization (FPIA), etc. In recent years, test strips (TS) have been developed for express diagnostics of a number of poisonings, which allow for the qualitative or semi-quantitative detection of toxic components or their metabolites in urine within a few minutes. Characteristics of the main toxicological methods
Method |
Sample preparation |
Device |
Sensitivity, ng/ml |
Analysis duration, min |
A variety of substances to be determined |
Analytical complexity |
IFA, CEDIA, RIA |
No |
Yes |
25-1000 |
2-5 |
No |
Average |
TH |
Yes |
No |
100-1000 |
60 |
Yes |
Tall |
GH |
Yes |
Yes |
50-100 |
60 |
Yes |
Tall |
GC-MS |
Yes |
Yes |
10-100 |
60 |
Yes |
Tall |
ZH |
Yes |
Yes |
50-100 |
60 |
Yes |
Tall |
FP |
No |
Yes |
25-1000 |
2-5 |
No |
Average |
TP |
No |
No |
1-2 mcg/ml |
5-10 |
No |
Low |
The choice of research method or methods depends mainly on the physicochemical properties of toxic substances and the tasks facing the clinician.
In clinical practice, poisonings with a wide range of toxic substances are observed. Below we consider poisonings in which the results of laboratory studies play an important role in diagnostics and monitoring the effectiveness of treatment.