Examination of Firearms Review: 2007 to 2010 - Interpol

lood carboxyhemoglobin, and the cause of death was re-certified as CO
intoxication. A 10-year retrospective review conducted on all non-fire related
CO deaths autopsied (n = 94) in the U.S. from 1994 to 2003, along with an
extensive literature review, indicated no previously reported cases of fatal CO
poisoning attributed to diesel fuel exhaust.
2.6 Quality Assurance and Accreditation
The implementation of quality management systems and accreditation of
laboratories by regional or national accreditation bodies are intended to ensure
that the laboratories are capable of providing effective and “fit for purpose”
analytical service to the end users. The current status of accreditation amongst
laboratories offering drug testing of hair was assessed. Although the vast
majority of laboratories follow current guidelines (83%), only nine laboratories
were accredited to ISO/IEC 17025 standards for hair testing; however, a
significant number of laboratories reported that they were in the process of
developing quality assurance protocols with a view to accrediting their
methods within 2–3 years [210]. Quality assurance in toxicological examination
in DUID cases requires efforts from professionals of different disciplines. In the
quality assurance program of Switzerland for laboratories performing
toxicological road traffic analyses, a multidisciplinary working group, the Road
Traffic Commission (RTC), was established to organize external quality control,
to interpret the results of these controls, to perform audits in the laboratories
and to report all results to Swiss Federal Road Office [211]. The program
required that all tested drugs and psychoactive substances listed in a federal
instruction as 'zero tolerance substances' (THC, morphine, cocaine,
amphetamine, MA, MDMA, and MDEA) and their metabolites to be tested
once a year, and all other substances (benzodiazepines, zolpidem,
phenobarbital, etc.) be tested periodically. External audits are performed
triennially, but accredited laboratories can combine the audit with the approval
of the Swiss Accreditation Service.
Participation in external quality assurance or proficiency testing (PT) schemes
is an important part of quality management. The Federal Aviation
Administration of the U.S. reported the second 7 years of their postmortem
toxicology proficiency test program [212]. Twenty-eight survey samples (12
urine, 9 blood, and 7 tissue homogenate) with/without alcohols/volatiles, drugs,
and/or putrefactive amine(s) were submitted, with an average of 25
participants reporting their results. Analytes in the survey samples were
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