A high performance liquid chromatographic method for toxicological drug screening of gastric content has been developed. The samples were diluted (1:3-1:30) in 0.01N hydrochloric acid and injected into a reverse phase column for separation by gradient elution. Mobile phase consisted of solvent A (acetonitrile/water 90:10, 0.01M sodium dodecylsulphate, 0.5% v/v glacial acetic acid) and solvent B (water/acetonitrile 90:10, 0.01M sodium dodecylsulphate, 0.5% v/v glacial acetic acid); the gradient was programmed from 20 to 80% A in 30min. The flow was kept constant at 1.5ml/min. Two home-made internal standards, butyrylsalicylic acid and diacetyltubocurarine with retention times of 5.6 and 21.4min, respectively, were used. Drugs are identified by matching their relative retention times and UV spectra (200-400nm) with those contained in a home made library of more than 340 reference compounds (9 analgesics, 22 antidepressants, 30 antihistamines, 14 antihypertensives, 21 antirheumatics, 15 beta-blockers, 9 bronchodilators, 10 Ca antagonists, 14 diuretics, 26 neuroleptics, 25 tranquilizers, and other significant xenobiotic compounds). The fluorometric (FLD) emission spectrum (280-700nm; excitation wavelength, 230nm) was used as a further identification. At 50mg/l analyte concentrations, the injection of gastric content after dilution (1:3) produced S/N ratios in the range 8-140. The method is simple, rapid, rather inexpensive and proved to be a useful means of investigation if used in combination with GC-MS screening in blood. On the other hand, the system suffers from a relatively limited sensitivity for compounds with a low UV absorption and from interferences due to the presence in the matrix of some highly UV- and FL-responsive compounds (e.g. tryptophan).