[Examination of drugs and poisons in institutions not equipped with an analyzer of them and poisons--focusing on the simple qualitative test of surfactants].

We examined the simple qualitative test of surfactants, and discussed its possible usefulness in clinical emergency medicine and the analysis system in institutions not equipped with an analyzer of drugs and poisons. The procedures for the cobalt thiocyanate ammonium test, methylene blue chloroform test, and bromphenol blue test are easy, if reagents are prepared beforehand. If concomitantly used, these tests enable analysis of ion properties of surfactants. These tests thus seem useful for the screening of drugs and poisons in emergency medicine. We think that it is possible for institutions not equipped with an analyzer of drugs and poisons to establish a system to support clinical practice by giving priority to the establishment of drugs and poisons that frequently cause intoxication as well as of items for the simple qualitative test that are specified in "proposals for the guidelines for the analysis of drugs and poisons" advanced by the Japanese Society for Clinical Toxicology.