Acute Selenium Poisoning: Suicide by Ingestion

Selenium is a ubiquitous element in the environment essential to the human diet and widely utilized in industrial processes. Fatal human selenium intoxication is rare. The authors report a case in which investigators recovered a bottle of gun-bluing agent beside a 24-year-old man. He exhibited signs...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of forensic sciences 2005-07, Vol.50 (4), p.JFS2004247-5
Main Authors: Hunsaker, DM, Spiller, HA, Williams, D
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Antioxidants - analysis
Antioxidants - pharmacokinetics
Antioxidants - poisoning
Case studies
Chemical elements
Forensic Medicine
Forensic sciences
Gastric Mucosa - pathology
Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage - pathology
Humans
Male
Odorants
Poisoning
Selenium - blood
Selenium - pharmacokinetics
Selenium - poisoning
Spectrophotometry - methods
Suicide
Suicides & suicide attempts
Tissue Distribution
Toxicology
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Summary:Selenium is a ubiquitous element in the environment essential to the human diet and widely utilized in industrial processes. Fatal human selenium intoxication is rare. The authors report a case in which investigators recovered a bottle of gun-bluing agent beside a 24-year-old man. He exhibited signs and symptoms typical of acute selenium intoxication presenting with nausea and vomiting, followed by pulmonary edema and rapid cardiovascular collapse approximately 3 to 4 h after ingestion. Classic electrocardiographic (EKG) changes, which have been reported to occur in acute selenium intoxication, included sinus tachycardia with ST wave alteration. Toxicological results confirmed elevated blood and tissue concentrations. The cause of death was ascribed to acute selenium intoxication, which ensued rapidly after oral consumption. The manner of death was suicide. This case report, which presents an overview of acute and chronic selenium poisoning, underscores the value of thorough toxicologic analyses of tissue and body fluids in humans.
ISSN:0022-1198
1556-4029
DOI:10.1520/JFS2004247