Tissue Distribution of Trichloroethylene and its Metabolites in a Forensic Case

A fatality that was due to the ingestion of the halogenated solvent trichloroethylene is presented. The decedent was a 43-year-old male who was found dead at his home. Screening of the blood and stomach contents with the enzyme multiplied immunoassay technique and radioimmunoassay demonstrated the p...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of analytical toxicology 1997-05, Vol.21 (3), p.223-227
Main Authors: De Baere, S., Meyer, E., Dirinck, I., Lambert, W., Piette, M., Van Peteghem, C., De Leenheer, A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acetaminophen - blood
Acetaminophen - metabolism
Adult
Amphetamines - blood
Amphetamines - metabolism
Biological and medical sciences
Caffeine - blood
Caffeine - metabolism
Chemical and industrial products toxicology. Toxic occupational diseases
Chromatography, Gas
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid
Chromatography, Thin Layer
Cotinine - blood
Cotinine - metabolism
Enzyme Multiplied Immunoassay Technique
Ethanol - blood
Ethanol - metabolism
Forensic Medicine
Gastric Mucosa - metabolism
Humans
Kidney - metabolism
Liver - metabolism
Lung - metabolism
Male
Medical sciences
Radioimmunoassay
Reference Standards
Solvents
Solvents - metabolism
Solvents - poisoning
Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared
Suicide
Tissue Distribution
Toxicology
Trichloroethylene - blood
Trichloroethylene - metabolism
Trichloroethylene - poisoning
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:A fatality that was due to the ingestion of the halogenated solvent trichloroethylene is presented. The decedent was a 43-year-old male who was found dead at his home. Screening of the blood and stomach contents with the enzyme multiplied immunoassay technique and radioimmunoassay demonstrated the presence of ethanol, amphetamine-like compounds, caffeine, cotinine, and acetaminophen. These compounds were present in toxicologically irrelevant concentrations as confirmed by thin-layer chromatography, high-performance liquid chromatography, and gas chromatography (GC). The Fujiwara reaction was performed on all available matrices, and it revealed the presence of chlorinated hydrocarbons in high concentrations. A specific GC method with electron capture detection allowed the quantitation of trichloroethylene and its metabolites trichloroethanol and trichloroacetic acid in different matrices. GC with Fourier-transform infrared detection was used for the confirmation of the identity of trichloroethylene.
ISSN:0146-4760
1945-2403
DOI:10.1093/jat/21.3.223