Citation

Nara A, Yamada C, Kodama T, Saka K, Takagi T. J. Forensic Sci. 2018; 63(6): 1928-1931.

Affiliation

Division of Legal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Tohoku Medical and Pharmaceutical University, 4-4-1 Komatsushima, Aoba-ku, Sendai-shi, Miyagi, 981-8558, Japan.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, American Society for Testing and Materials, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/1556-4029.13781

PMID

29601635

Abstract

Organophosphates are widely used as pesticides. However, organophosphates are occasionally orally ingested to commit suicide. In this case, a man in his late 80s committed suicide by ingesting both dichlorvos and phenthoate. Autopsy findings revealed a characteristic volatile odor from his mouth, stomach, lungs, liver, and kidneys. The esophageal mucosa was denatured and had lost elasticity. Serum cholinesterase activity was 9 IU/L. Toxicological analyses performed using high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry revealed that dichlorvos concentrations in the left and right cardiac blood samples were 11.6 and 4.6 μg/mL, respectively. Phenthoate concentrations in the left and right cardiac blood samples were 5.8 and 0.51 μg/mL, respectively. The total amounts of dichlorvos and phenthoate in the stomach were 7.35 and 4.55 g, respectively. The case history, autopsy findings, and toxicological analyses indicated that the cause of death was acute fatal poisoning after oral ingestion of both dichlorvos and phenthoate.

© 2018 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Language: en

Keywords

carboxylesterase; cholinesterase activity; dichlorvos; forensic science; forensic toxicology; organophosphate; phenthoate