The Tox Lab

The Tox Lab

The Tox Lab is a podcast dedicated to exploring the science of toxicology and its real-world implications. Each week we aim to break down complex research, investigate real-life cases, and discuss emerging trends in toxicology. Disclaimer: All opinions are our own. Find us on instagram: @the_tox_lab Email us here: thetoxlab@gmail.com

  1. Oct 19

    Episode 97: Poppers - Exploring the Toxicology of Alkyl Nitrites

    This week on The Tox Lab, we're taking a closer look at poppers, exploring what alkyl nitrites are, why they are used and the fascinating history behind these widely recognised substances. We discuss what happens when poppers are swallowed rather than inhaled, including a case of severe methaemoglobinaemia and research examining UK deaths involving alkyl nitrite ingestion. We also explore poppers maculopathy, looking at the potential for visual disturbances and retinal damage associated with their use. Finally, we look at where poppers sit within UK drug legislation and the ongoing questions around their regulation. Join us as we explore the toxicology of poppers, from acute toxicity and fatalities to visual complications and the challenges of detecting alkyl nitrites in toxicological investigations. Hope you enjoy! Links to papers we discussed: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11806928/  https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11765549/   https://bjo.bmj.com/content/101/11/1530  Disclaimer: All opinions are our own. Find us on instagram: @the_tox_lab Email us here: thetoxlab@gmail.com Check out our new website: https://thetoxlab.co.uk/  Support us here: https://buymeacoffee.com/thetoxlab

  2. Oct 12

    Episode 96: Cyanobacteria, Anatoxin and the Hidden Risks of River Biofilms

    This week on The Tox Lab, we're diving into the world of cyanobacteria, exploring the toxins they can produce and the risks they pose to animals and the wider environment. We clear up the naming myth behind “blue-green algae”, look at the different cyanotoxins and discuss why dogs can be particularly vulnerable to poisoning. We then explore a case involving three dogs affected by cyanobacterial poisoning, where analytical toxicology played a key role in identifying the toxin involved. Finally, we look at research investigating cyanobacterial biofilms and anatoxin production in a French river, and what this tells us about the changing risks these organisms can pose. Join us as we explore cyanobacteria, anatoxin poisoning and the toxicology behind these potentially fatal environmental exposures. Hope you enjoy! Links to the papers we discussed: https://www.cdc.gov/harmful-algal-blooms/hcp/clinical-signs/symptoms-freshwater-harmful-algal-blooms.html https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0041010123000727?via%3Dihub https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6651/10/10/418 Disclaimer: All opinions are our own. Find us on instagram: @the_tox_lab Email us here: thetoxlab@gmail.com Check out our new website: https://thetoxlab.co.uk/ Support us here: https://buymeacoffee.com/thetoxlab

  3. Oct 5

    Episode 95: TIAFT-SOFT 2026 - Our Toxicology Conference Highlights

    We're back! This week on The Tox Lab, we're reflecting on our recent trip to Chicago for the joint TIAFT-SOFT 2026 meeting. We talk about what we got up to during the conference, some of the recurring scientific themes we noticed across the programme, and the toxicology topics that caught our attention. We also share some of our favourite moments from the meeting, from presentations and discussions to catching up with colleagues and meeting new people from across the toxicology community. Join us as we look back at TIAFT-SOFT 2026, share our highlights from one of the biggest events in forensic and clinical toxicology, and discuss some of the themes and ideas we took away from the conference. If you couldn't make it to Chicago, this is our chance to bring a little bit of TIAFT-SOFT 2026 to you! Hope you enjoy! Disclaimer: All opinions are our own. Find us on instagram: @the_tox_lab Email us here: thetoxlab@gmail.com Check out our new website: https://thetoxlab.co.uk/ Support us here: https://buymeacoffee.com/thetoxlab

  4. Sep 14

    Episode 94: Kanna Alkaloids - Pharmacology, Toxicity and Therapeutic Potential

    This week on The Tox Lab, we're diving into the world of Kanna alkaloids. We begin by exploring Kanna, its traditional use in southern Africa, and the growing interest in its potential effects on anxiety and depression. We take a closer look at the alkaloids found within Kanna, including mesembrine, and consider the pharmacology behind some of its reported effects. We then turn to the potential harms associated with Kanna, examining in-silico toxicity prediction data for mesembrine and discussing what these predictions can, and cannot, tell us about the potential toxicity of the compound. We also look at National Poison Data System data and the apparent increase in reported Kanna exposures, before exploring research into the potential cognitive effects of Kanna and whether these compounds could have a future role in treating conditions such as Alzheimer's dementia. Join us as we explore the chemistry, pharmacology and toxicology of Kanna alkaloids, and consider whether this traditional plant could have a place in modern medicine. Hope you enjoy! This episode is very kindly sponsored by Cayman Chemical. Check out their Kanna Alkaloid Mix here: https://www.caymanchem.com/product/45074/kanna-alkaloids-mixture Links to the papers we discussed: https://www.thieme-connect.com/products/ejournals/abstract/10.1055/a-2809-5144 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378874123009819?via%3Dihub https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0009279725002789?via%3Dihub https://www.acmt.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/2026-ASM-abstracts.pdf https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1155/2014/682014 Disclaimer: All opinions are our own. Find us on instagram: @the_tox_lab Email us here: thetoxlab@gmail.com Check out our new website: https://thetoxlab.co.uk/ Support us here: https://buymeacoffee.com/thetoxlab

  5. Sep 7

    Episode 93: Psychedelic Therapy: Psilocybin, Depression and the Evidence

    This week on The Tox Lab, we're diving into the world of psychedelic therapies and exploring the use of psilocybin to treat depression. We begin with a recent trial investigating whether psilocybin-assisted therapy could actually be delivered within an NHS setting. We explore the practical challenges of delivering psychedelic therapy, the results of the trial, and what the findings might mean for the future of psilocybin treatment for people with treatment-resistant depression. We then look at how psilocybin could produce antidepressant effects that persist long after the drug itself has left the body. We discuss what happens when psilocybin is converted to psilocin, its effects on serotonin receptors, and some of the proposed mechanisms behind its longer-term effects, including changes in brain activity, connectivity and neuroplasticity. Finally, we examine the evidence from a trial comparing psilocybin with escitalopram, asking how the two treatments compare and what this tells us about the potential role of psilocybin in treating depression. We also discuss one of the fundamental challenges in psychedelic research: can you really blind a trial when participants can often tell whether they've received a psychedelic? Join us as we explore the science behind psychedelic therapy, the evidence for psilocybin in depression, and the challenges of moving these treatments from clinical trials into real-world healthcare. Hope you enjoy! Links to the papers we discussed: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04541-0 https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2032994 Disclaimer: All opinions are our own. Find us on instagram: @the_tox_lab Email us here: thetoxlab@gmail.com Check out our new website: https://thetoxlab.co.uk/ Support us here: https://buymeacoffee.com/thetoxlab

  6. Aug 31

    Episode 92: Mad Honey - Grayanotoxins and Cardiovascular Effects

    This week on The Tox Lab, we're diving into the world of mad honey and grayanotoxin poisoning. We examine where mad honey comes from and its cultural uses before turning to the compounds responsible for its toxic effects: grayanotoxins. We discuss how these compounds affect voltage-gated sodium channels and how this can lead to severe bradycardia, hypotension, cardiac conduction abnormalities, dizziness, neurological symptoms and, in some cases, hallucinations. The episode also examines reported cases of mad honey poisoning, including a severe case in Nepal and a case from the UK involving imported raw honey. We consider why the concentration of grayanotoxins can make the effects of mad honey difficult to predict and explore the clinical features of grayanotoxin poisoning. Join us as we explore the chemistry, pharmacology, history and toxicology of mad honey, and discover how something as familiar as honey can cause significant cardiovascular and neurological toxicity. Hope you enjoy! Links to the papers we discussed: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9978999/pdf/EFS2-21-e07866.pdf https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/30/19/3925 https://analyticalsciencejournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jat.4855 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6293183/pdf/CCR3-6-2355.pdf https://www.cureus.com/articles/488288-mad-honey-poisoning-caused-by-grayanotoxin-toxicity-in-a-75-year-old-male-patient-presenting-with-hypotension-and-bradycardia-in-the-united-kingdom-a-case-report#!/ Disclaimer: All opinions are our own. Find us on instagram: @the_tox_lab Email us here: thetoxlab@gmail.com Check out our new website: https://thetoxlab.co.uk/ Support us here: https://buymeacoffee.com/thetoxlab

  7. Aug 24

    Episode 91: Toxicology Results - What Does the Number Actually Mean?

    This week on The Tox Lab, we're taking a closer look at one of the most challenging parts of toxicology: interpreting the results. If we give you a number, can you tell us what it means? We begin by exploring why interpreting a toxicology result is rarely as simple as comparing a concentration with a reference value. We discuss the range of clinical, analytical, pharmacological, and contextual information needed to understand what a result actually means, as well as the biases that can influence the way toxicology results are interpreted. We then turn to recent published work evaluating the performance of AI and large language models in toxicology interpretation. Can these tools accurately interpret toxicology results, or do they reflect the same pitfalls seen when results are considered without sufficient clinical context? We explore some of the common errors and limitations reported in the literature when AI is applied to toxicology result interpretation. Finally, we examine the use of reference intervals in toxicology and ask whether they can really help clinicians interpret drug concentrations. We discuss why reference intervals are not always straightforward and why context matters when deciding whether a toxicology result is clinically significant. Join us as we explore the complexities of toxicology result interpretation, the risks of relying on numbers without context, and whether AI could actually help us make sense of toxicology results. Hope you enjoy! Links to the papers we discussed: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15563650.2026.2698028 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0379073826001052?via%3Dihub https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13152082/ Disclaimer: All opinions are our own. Find us on instagram: @the_tox_lab Email us here: thetoxlab@gmail.com Check out our new website: https://thetoxlab.co.uk/ Support us here: https://buymeacoffee.com/thetoxlab

  8. Aug 17

    Episode 90: Fentanyl: Toxicity, Testing and Interpretation

    This week on The Tox Lab, we're taking a closer look at fentanyl, exploring its clinical use, toxicological risks, and the analytical challenges associated with detecting and interpreting fentanyl exposure. We begin by examining fentanyl patch-related deaths reported in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, including cases highlighted through Prevention of Future Deaths reports. We discuss how fentanyl patches can contribute to fatal toxicity and consider what these cases can tell us about preventing future deaths. We then turn to the laboratory, exploring fentanyl immunoassay cut-offs and why the concentration used to define a positive result matters. We discuss the importance of understanding and clinically assessing analytical cut-offs in different toxicological scenarios, rather than treating a single threshold as universally applicable. Finally, we examine 4-ANPP, a minor metabolite of fentanyl that is also an important precursor and impurity associated with illicit fentanyl manufacture. We explore whether detecting 4-ANPP could help distinguish between exposure to pharmaceutical fentanyl and illicitly manufactured fentanyl, and consider the challenges in interpreting this marker. Join us as we explore fentanyl toxicity, analytical interpretation, and the challenges of distinguishing different sources of fentanyl exposure, and consider what these findings mean for clinical and forensic toxicology. Hope you enjoy! Links to the papers we discussed: https://bpspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/bcp.70525 https://academic.oup.com/jat/article-abstract/50/5/bkag025/8658822?redirectedFrom=fulltext https://academic.oup.com/jat/article-abstract/50/3/bkaf111/8415903?redirectedFrom=fulltext Disclaimer: All opinions are our own. Find us on instagram: @the_tox_lab Email us here: thetoxlab@gmail.com Check out our new website: https://thetoxlab.co.uk/ Support us here: https://buymeacoffee.com/thetoxlab

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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

The Tox Lab is a podcast dedicated to exploring the science of toxicology and its real-world implications. Each week we aim to break down complex research, investigate real-life cases, and discuss emerging trends in toxicology. Disclaimer: All opinions are our own. Find us on instagram: @the_tox_lab Email us here: thetoxlab@gmail.com

Information

  • Creator
    The Tox Lab
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    98
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © The Tox Lab
  • Show Website
    The Tox Lab

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