Journal of Analytical Toxicology 2012-01-01

Two suicidal fatalities due to the ingestion of chlorfenvinphos formulations: simultaneous determination of the pesticide and the petroleum distillates in tissues by gas chromatography-flame-ionization detection and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

María A Martínez, Salomé Ballesteros

Index: J. Anal. Toxicol. 36(1) , 44-51, (2012)

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Abstract

Chlorfenvinphos (CFVP) is an organophosporus insecticide designated as a threat agent by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). However, there are very few reported cases of poisonings in humans and none with postmortem toxicological analysis. We report the first two fatalities due to suicidal massive ingestion of a veterinary formulation containing CFVP and petroleum distillates. Case 1: A 24-year-old woman was found dead by her mother. According to the police records, the room was filled with an odor of solvents or pesticides and feces. There was an empty bottle of Supona(®) near the body and a suicide note on a Bible on a table. The only relevant postmortem finding was that the lungs appeared congested and edematous. Case 2: A 60-year-old man committed in his van by ingesting an unknown product. The vehicle was locked and had an odor that resembled an acid, sulfate, or solvent according to different witnesses. There was a suicide note as well as multiple containers containing automobile products nearby. The stomach of the victim was filled with abundant pale greenish fluid with a similar odor to that presented in the vehicle. The simultaneous toxicological screening and quantitation of CFVP and petroleum distillates [a mixture of trimethylbenzene isomers (TMBs)] was performed by means of gas chromatography with flame-ionization detection (GC-FID) and confirmation was performed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Disposition of CFVP and TMBs in different tissues were, respectively, as follows: Case 1: heart blood, 8.6 and 3.7 mg/L; liver, 60.0 and 33.4 mg/kg; and stomach contents, 1132 mg/L (792.4 mg total) and 377.0 mg/L (263.9 mg total). Case 2: heart blood, 4.4 and 6.5 mg/L; urine, 1.4 and detected (< LOQ); bile 7.8 and 12.2 mg/L; vitreous 0.3 mg/L and detected (< LOQ); liver, 139.2 and 172.1 mg/kg; and stomach contents, 76,168 mg/L (72,359 mg total) and 108,109 mg/L (102,703 mg total). Results of alcohol, other volatiles, abused and therapeutic drugs were negative in both cases. The proposed analytical method allows the simultaneous determination of a wide variety of pesticides and additives, including petroleum distillates suitable for toxicological investigation in forensic and clinical cases. This is crucial to solving poisoning cases in which the poisoning source is uncertain.