title: Diagnosis of aluminum phosphide poisoning using a new analytical approach: forensic application to a lethal intoxication.
abstract: Aluminum phosphide (AlP) is an effective and cheap pesticide that is commonly used worldwide, but it is also a common cause of human poisoning and carries a high mortality rate. AlP reacts with moisture in air, water, and hydrochloric acid in the stomach to produce phosphine (PH3) gas. Two routes of exposure are ingestion of AlP and inhalation of phosphine generated by the action of moisture on AlP. Absorbed phosphine is rapidly metabolized into phosphite and hypophosphite. A method is described for the analysis of the phosphine metabolites in various biological matrices. The method involves reacting the sample with zinc and aqueous H2SO4in a volatile organic analysis vial. The metabolites were transformed into phosphine gas and then analyzed by headspace gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (HS-GC-MS). This method is capable of detecting quantities of PH3as low as 0.2 μg/mL in a sample. After validation, the method was applied to animal experiments and a real case of human AlP intoxication. This approach has the advantage of detecting metabolites of PH3, in case the PH3was converted, and can be considered a useful additional tool for the diagnosis of AlP poisoning in forensic science.
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Toxicology, Institute of Forensic Sciences, Ministry of Justice, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Forensic Medicine, Shanghai, 200063, China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Toxicology, Institute of Forensic Sciences, Ministry of Justice, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Forensic Medicine, Shanghai, 200063, China.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Xiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Toxicology, Institute of Forensic Sciences, Ministry of Justice, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Forensic Medicine, Shanghai, 200063, China.
authors.forename: Sujing
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Toxicology, Institute of Forensic Sciences, Ministry of Justice, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Forensic Medicine, Shanghai, 200063, China. shenbh@ssfjd.cn.
authors.forename: Baohua
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Toxicology, Institute of Forensic Sciences, Ministry of Justice, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Forensic Medicine, Shanghai, 200063, China. minshensfjd@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shen
mesh_terms: D017607:Aluminum Compounds / Q000032:analysis* / Q000506:poisoning*; D000818:Animals; D053593:Forensic Toxicology / Q000379:methods; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006801:Humans; D057230:Limit of Detection; D010575:Pesticides / Q000032:analysis* / Q000506:poisoning*; D010720:Phosphines / Q000032:analysis* / Q000506:poisoning*; D011041:Poisoning / Q000175:diagnosis; D051381:Rats
chemical_list: D017607:Aluminum Compounds; D010575:Pesticides; D010720:Phosphines; C001864:aluminum phosphide
keywords: Aluminum phosphide; GC-MS; Hypophosphite; Inhalation; Phosphine; Phosphite