Evaluation of Structure and Functions of Selected European Forensic Toxicology Laboratories and Comparison with Iranian Forensic Toxicology Laboratories

A detailed plan for improving of the quality and quantity of Forensic Toxicology Laboratories of Iran required understanding of the structure and function of same accredited laboratories in developed countries in the world. The aim of this study is to investigate that the structure and function of selected forensic toxicology laboratories in Europe and comparison them with Legal Medicine Organization (LMO) of Iran forensic toxicology labs. This is a descriptive study. The selected European forensic toxicology laboratories have been evaluated as a member of the European Network of Forensic Science Institutes (ENFSI). The present study is based on questionnaire for data collection. Data was obtained from selected ENFSI’s Forensic laboratory and then were compared with LMO’s forensic toxicology laboratory. MS-Excel 2007 software was used to plot graphs. In this study، data from 17 European countries and 18 forensic toxicology laboratory were reviewed. In terms of structure، the most of these laboratories (39%) have been affiliated under the Ministry of Justice، and only 6% of them are independent. Gas chromatography - mass spectrometry is the most common equipment used in all laboratories. In all countries، judicial system is as the largest recipient of the specialized services and private centers and hospitals (11. 1%)، were the least common customers of these laboratories. All these laboratories had ISO17025 certificate or are getting it. According to these results، it seems that the LMO forensic toxicology laboratories have a proper position in comparison with the same ENFSI laboratories based on the structural، technical and specialized equipments. However، practical measures for getting of quality control management system certificates for LMO forensic toxicology laboratories seem necessary.