| |


Published:
Journal of Analytical Toxicology,
ISSN 0146-4760,
Volume 26,
Number 1, January/February 2002, pp. 55-57
CASE REPORT: A Fatal Human Intoxication with the Herbicide
Allyl Alcohol (2-Propen-1-ol)
Stefan W. Toennes, Karl Schmidt, Anabel S. Fandiño,
and Gerold F. Kauert
Institute of Forensic Toxicology, University of Frankfurt, Kennedyallee 104,
D-60596 Frankfurt/Main, Germany
Oral ingestion of allyl alcohol by a 55-year-old man resulted
in death within 100 min. At autopsy, bloody, reddish fluid was found in mouth,
larynx, esophagus, and trachea. The mucous membranes of the trachea, stomach,
and duodenum were congested and inflamed. The stomach contained a pungent green-black
fluid, and all internal organs exhibited a strong pungent odor. Toxicological
analysis of blood identified allyl alcohol using solid-phase microextraction
and gas chromatographymass spectrometry. Quantitative determination of
allyl alcohol and its toxic metabolite, acrolein, was performed using headspace
gas chromatography with flame-ionization detection. Total amounts of allyl alcohol
in gastric content, bile, and urine were 3.6 g, 15 mg, and 0.5 mg, respectively.
The concentration in blood was 309 mg/L. Acrolein was not detected in gastric
contents and only in small amounts in bile and urine. The concentration of acrolein
in blood was 7.2 mg/L. Death was attributed to acrolein-induced acute cardiotoxicity,
similar to that previously documented in animal experiments.
Reproduction
of editorial content of this journal is prohibited without publishers
permission.
This
article is available in its entirety by fax for $4.00 per
page.
Visa or MasterCard accepted. To order electronically click here
or call: 847-647-2900 ext. 1323
or fax request to: 847-647-1155.
Please indicate JAT
volume and issue along with page numbers. |
|
Home | Subscribe
| Current Issue | Back Issues
| Search | Advertise | Other Publications
| |