Toxicology experts today challenged the data and the research method of a private report that concluded "Clueless" star Brittany Murphy died from poisoning. 
 
 The report compiled by The Carlson Company, a lab in Colorado, used faulty methods and cited non-existent standards for heavy metal poisoning, the critics said. 
 
 Murphy died nearly four years ago of an apparent heart attack when she was 32 years old. The Los Angeles County Coroner's Office later ruled that she died of a combination of pneumonia, anemia and prescription drug intoxication. 
 
 Angelo Bertolotti, Murphy's father, commissioned the Carlson Company to conduct new tests. 
 
 The Carlson lab also advertises "infidelity DNA testing by mail." Its web site states, "We test suspicious stains related to infidelity for the presence of the other woman or man, e.g. blood, vaginal fluid, hair, DNA, semen, sperm, seminal fluid, saliva, condoms, cosmetics." 
 
 The lab concluded that Murphy had high levels of heavy metals in her hair samples, citing World Health Organization Standards. 
 
 "Ten (10) of the heavy metals evaluated were detected at levels higher that [sic] the WHO high levels," the report reads and displays the WHO logo. 
 
 WHO, a U.N. agency that provides leadership in global health issues, responded today and dismissed Carlson's methods and objected to its logo being included in the report. 
 
 "WHO does not establish reference ranges for chemicals in hair, therefore, the 'high values' for the chemicals listed in the Carlson Company report are from some other source, and not from WHO, and the laboratory should provide accurate citation for the source or sources of these values," said WHO scientist Joanna Tempowski, who works in the organization's International Programme on Chemical Safety. 
 
 WHO publishes guidelines for chemicals in food additives and drinking water, but these chemicals are more often measured in blood and urine, said Tempowski. 
 
 "Hair is not, however, a reliable material for the determination of exposure to many chemicals because it is prone to contamination from the external environment," she said. 
 
 Tempowski also said the Carlson Company does not have permission to use WHO's logo. 
 
 When the Carlson Company was asked to clarify the WHO standards it was citing, the Carlson Company manager Denny Seilheimer left ABCNews.com a voice message saying they were referring to "the recommended high value established by the national World Health Organization. I hope I've answered your question. Have a good day." 
 
 Seilheimer could not be reached to clarifiy his reference to the national World Health Organization or the criticism that the use of hair samples was improper. 
 
 Toxicologists also dismissed Carlson's method of using hair samples after ABCNews.com asked them to review the report. They said there are additional reasons that it's unlikely Murphy was poisoned. 
 
 Bruce Goldberger, a toxicologist who directs UF Health Forensic Medicine at the University of Florida, said Murphy lacked the telltale sign of heavy metal poisoning when she died: lines across her fingernails. 
 
 These lines, called Mees' lines or leukonychia striata, are a key tool for diagnosing heavy metals poisoning, Goldberger said. Without them, it's unlikely heavy metals played a role in Murphy's death. 
 
 Fatal heavy metal poisoning symptoms can manifest in many different ways, but commonly includes gastrointestinal distress, said Marcel Casavant, the chief of toxicology at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Ohio. 
 
 Goldberger said this was not noted in the coroner's report. 
 
 "The bottom line is these hair test results cannot be used to support any allegation of poisoning, and cannot be used to establish a cause and manner of death," Goldberger told ABCNews.com. 
 
 Read more about Brittany Murphy on our topic page. ||||| Several years after Brittany Murphy’s 2009 death—the cause of which had been ruled at the time the result of pneumonia and a melange of legal medications (prescription and over-the-counter)—the case has resurfaced this week in the headlines after a toxicology report ordered by Murphy’s father discovered high levels of toxins on her hair. This led to his claim that his daughter was poisoned by a third party (these toxins can be found in rat poison), and he is now suing the L.A.P.D. for negligence in its investigation of her death. 
 
 
 
 But now W.H.O. has weighed in, positing that the findings from this private study may not have been valid, as a scientist explained, “Hair is not . . . a reliable material for the determination of exposure to many chemicals because it is prone to contamination from the external environment.” ABC News cited other experts who further discredited the findings, claiming the lab’s methodology was oriented around “faulty methods and cited non-existent standards.” 
 
 
 
 The Post also floats the possibility—in the scenario the test results are accurate—that Murphy could have been exposed to the toxins via drugs such as meth and cocaine given that “L.A. was flush with meth and cocaine that had been mixed with toxins, including rat poison” around the time of her death, according to their “sources.” (Though it should be noted that there has been no evidence illegal drugs were involved.) 
 
 
 
 For now, the Los Angeles coroner’s office says they would need more conclusive evidence before re-opening the investigation. ||||| Brittany Murphy may not have been poisoned, as her father suspects, but in fact may have exposed herself to drugs that had been mixed with chemicals like rat poison. 
 
 Sources tell us that around the time of the actress’s 2009 death, LA was flush with meth and cocaine that had been mixed with toxins, including rat poison. 
 
 The coroner at the time said she died from pneumonia and a mix of legal prescription and over-the-counter medications. 
 
 There was no evidence found of illegal drugs. But a new toxicology report on Murphy’s hair samples commissioned by her father, Angelo Bertolotti, found high levels of toxins such as barium, found in rat poison, on her hair. 
 
 He suspects his daughter was poisoned and has sued the LAPD, claiming they didn’t properly investigate her death. But experts question the lab’s findings, saying that doesn’t necessarily mean she was poisoned by a third party. 
 
 Forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden questions whether the results came from contamination of the samples. 
 
 “If the hair was taken at the time of the autopsy and then kept at the coroner’s office for four years, finding the heavy metals can all be an artifact . . . from the container in which it was kept,” he says, adding that the results are “interesting, but do not demonstrate criminality or cause of death.” 
 
 The Los Angeles Coroner has the new results but says it will not reopen the case unless it gets more details.
– Brittany Murphy's dad thinks she was poisoned—but the evidence he found may point to something else, sources tell Page Six. They say that at the time of Murphy's death, meth and cocaine in the LA area were frequently mixed with rat poison and other toxins—meaning Murphy may have accidentally exposed herself to the chemicals found in her hair, blood, and tissue. But as Vanity Fair points out, there's no evidence illegal drugs played a role in her death. And then there's the fact that those findings may not even be valid: The World Health Organization itself has weighed in to act as the voice of reason, ABC News reports. "Hair is not ... a reliable material for the determination of exposure to many chemicals because it is prone to contamination from the external environment," explains a WHO scientist; a forensic pathologist who spoke to Page Six says the same. Other toxicologists also dismissed the findings; one points out that Murphy did not have lines across her fingernails when she died, which is a key sign of heavy metal poisoning.