Detection of carbon monoxide poisoning that occurred before a house fire in three cases.

Leg Med (Tokyo)

Department of Forensic Sciences, Akita University Graduate School of Medicine, Hondo 1-1-1, Akita 010-8543, Japan. Electronic address:

Published: September 2015

AI Article Synopsis

  • The study examines the presence of volatile hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide-hemoglobin (CO-Hb) concentrations in blood from fatal fire cases using advanced gas chromatography.
  • It highlights three cases where high CO-Hb levels were found without corresponding benzene levels, suggesting carbon monoxide inhalation from sources unrelated to smoke or fire.
  • The researchers stress that comparing these substances can help clarify the events leading to fire-related deaths and improve detection of pre-fire carbon monoxide poisoning.

Article Abstract

In our institutes, we perform a quantitative evaluation of volatile hydrocarbons in post-mortem blood in all fatal fire-related cases using headspace gas chromatography mass spectrometry. We previously reported that benzene concentrations in the blood were positively correlated with carbon monoxide-hemoglobin (CO-Hb) concentrations in fire-related deaths. Here, we present 3 cases in which benzene concentrations in the blood were not correlated with CO-Hb concentrations. A high CO-Hb concentration without a hydrocarbon component, such as benzene, indicates that the deceased inhaled carbon monoxide that was not related to the smoke from the fire. Comparing volatile hydrocarbons with CO-Hb concentrations can provide more information about the circumstances surrounding fire-related deaths. We are currently convinced that this is the best method to detect if carbon monoxide poisoning occurred before a house fire started.

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Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.legalmed.2015.05.003DOI Listing

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