Lethal cyanide inhalation with post-mortem trans-cutaneous cyanide diffusion.
A 27-year-old worker in a metal processing factory was found dead in a basin, sitting in a solution containing potassium dicyano argentate, potassium cyanide, master batch and brightener 'Elfit 73'. The worker was wearing an acid-resisting overall, rubber boots and a simple dust respirator. While the cyanide concentration in the stomach contents was only 0.05 microg/ml, it was 7.7 microg/g in the lung tissue, 6.3 microg/ml in the heart blood and 31 microg/ml in the femoral vein blood. The different concentrations suggest an initial lethal inhalation of cyanide and an extensive post-mortem diffusion of cyanide through primarily non-injured skin of buttocks and legs. The possibility of a post-mortem cyanide diffusion bars from concluding a vital sign from a high cyanide concentration in a blood sample of one single body site.
Institute of Legal Medicine, University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Universitätsstrasse 22, D-91054 Erlangen, Germany. stephan.seidl@recht.med.uni-erlangen.de
Stephan
S
Seidl
Bernd
B
Schwarze
Peter
P
Betz
D000328:Adult; D001344:Autopsy; D004058:Diffusion; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D006801:Humans; D019570:Inhalation Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects; D008297:Male; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects; D011180:Postmortem Changes; D011190:Potassium Cyanide / Q000097:blood / Q000506:poisoning*
D011190:Potassium Cyanide