Citation

Kucera J, Kofroňová K. J. Radioanal. Nucl. Chem. 2011; 287(3): 769-772.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s10967-010-0822-z

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Autopsy of 29-year old woman suspicious of committing suicide by the ingestion of As2O3 yielded contradictory findings. All pathological findings as well as clinical symptoms suggested acute poisoning, while a highly elevated As level of 26.4 μg g-1 in her hair collected at the autopsy, which was determined with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry indicated chronic poisoning. To elucidate this discrepancy, instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) with proven accuracy was performed of another set of sectioned hair samples. Levels of As found by INAA in the range of 0.16-0.26 μg g-1 excluded chronic poisoning, because the person died after approximately 14 h after the As2O 3 ingestion. Two reasons for the discordant As results obtained by ICP-MS and INAA are considered: (1) accidental, non-removed contamination of hair on the As2O3 ingestion; (2) erroneous performance of ICP-MS. © 2010 Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, Hungary.

Language: en

Keywords

adult; human; female; autopsy; forensic toxicology; article; mass spectrometry; human tissue; arsenic poisoning; arsenic trioxide; lethal dose; selenium; nitric acid; bromine; hair analysis; Hair; polyethylene; Arsenic poisoning; Forensic application; hair root; Instrumental neutron activation analysis; neutron activation analysis; nuclear reactor