Common poisons related to public safety may directly threaten peoples life,health and safety in certain ordinary scenarios.Meanwhile,the ultra sensitivity detection characteristic of surface enhanced Raman scattering(SERS) technique could provide very effective analysis strategy and idea for the rapid detection of ultra-trace-level toxicants in complex matrix systems,greatly expanding the practical application scope of this technique,which has a very broad practical application prospect.The progress of a series of basic research results is reviewed in this article,based on SERS technique in the rapid and accurate detection of representative public safety toxic substances,and common toxic target molecules including nodular toxin,mustard gas,and chlorinated amber choline,methyl parathion,cyanide,mercury ion,nitrite and other representative poisons are introduced.From the perspectives of selection and evaluation of different types of SERS substrates,performance evaluation of detection limits,scope of repeatability investigation and practical applications,the SERS spectra of typical target poisons are introduced,as well as the establishment of the surface-enhanced Raman scattering detection system,related parameters and system analysis process.The detection methods for these typical toxicants,and the technical challenges and some possible opportunities they might meet in pratical application are specifically analyzed.Finally,the future development direction for SERS technique to solve the difficult problems of on site actual detection is looked forward to.