Committee on
Systematic Toxicological Analysis & Guidelines

Brief history of the Committee

General unknown cases are an everlasting problem of forensic and clinical toxicological analysis. Systematization of toxicological analysis was suggested as an adequate way to approach this fundamental analytical challenge in toxicology during the TIAFT European Meeting in Leipzig in 1977. The STA Committee was founded during the TIAFT Business Meeting in Wichita on May 25, 1978, with support of the TIAFT President Dr. Bryan S. Finkle and with Prof. Rokus A. de Zeeuw as chairman.

The members Rokus A. de Zeeuw (The Netherlands), R. Klaus Mueller (Germany), Bryan S. Finkle (USA), A. C. Moffat (England), and Jan P. Franke (The Netherlands) met several times - starting in Groningen in January 1979 - until the first result could be presented: Gas Chromatographic Retention Indices of Toxicologically Relevant Substances in SE-30 or OV1. New members, Manfred R. Moeller (Germany), later Graham Jones (Canada) and David Osselton (England) joined the Committee, which continued the collection of data on GC Retention Indices of nonvolatiles and volatiles and of TLC data.

In 1991, R.K. Mueller was elected chairman. At this time, the necessity was felt to elaborate guidelines for toxicological analysis, to be cited as basic requirements for this field especially in countries with developing infrastructures. For this purpose the Committee was enlarged by Sue Nolan (New Zealand), Jordi Segura (Spain) and Robert Wennig (Luxembourg). As a result of thorough discussions, the TIAFT Laboratory Guidelines for Toxicological Analysis could be presented to the members. They have been adopted by the TIAFT Business Meeting in Leipzig, August 20, 1993.

The STA and Guidelines Committee reconsidered its aims with a reduced new membership in Padova in 1997 and distributed a questionnaire about the needs and gaps in general unknown analysis over the TIAFT website. A Supplement to the TIAFT Laboratory Guidelines was proposed at the TIAFT Meeting in Melbourne in 2003 and approved at the Business Meeting in Washington in 2004. M. LeBeau (USA) and T. Stimpfl (Austria) joined the Committee.

In 2005, T. Stimpfl was elected chairman, and M. Gergov (Finland), F. Sporkert (Switzerland) and W. Weinmann (Germany) joined the Committee.

At the Business Meeting in Ljubljana in 2006 a new mission statement for the STA and Guidelines Committee was proposed.