The Toxicology Laboratory has been operating since the establishment of the Department. Its activities involve determining the concentration of alcohol in biological samples (blood, urine, vitreous body) using the gas chromatography technique on the Shimadzu GC-2014 gas chromatograph. Pursuant to Article 19 of the Ordinance on the Method and Procedure of Taking Blood and Urine Specimens for Analysis to Determine the Concentration of Alcohol, Narcotic Drugs and Psychoactive Substances (Official Gazette No. 107/99), a Decision was stipulated on the Amendment of the Decision on Appointing Health and Other Institutions for Performing Blood and Urine Analysis to Determine the Concentration of Alcohol, Narcotic Drugs and Psychoactive Substances (Official Gazette No. 101/00).
The Laboratory performs professional activities for the Department’s needs, as well as scientific research activities as part of teaching. Parties can submit a private request for a blood alcohol test, for example, in the case of traffic accidents and vehicle damage as part of the documentation for insurance companies. As part of autopsies, it performs tests for the needs of the State Attorney’s Office, CHC Rijeka and the Administrative Health Department of Primorje-Gorski Kotar County. The Laboratory also performs DNA paternity testing in cooperation with the Molecular Pathology and Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory under the leadership of Prof. Blaženka Grahovac, M.Sc., PhD, which is done at the personal request or at the request of the competent court. The specimens for analysis are peripheral blood and buccal smears.
Laboratory staff:
- Dolores Koljanin, B.MLD – Senior Laboratory Engineer
- Lea Žunić, Medical Laboratory Technician