NCJ Number
174716
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 43 Issue: 4 Dated: July 1998 Pages: 827-836
Date Published
1998
Length
10 pages
Annotation
Experiments were conducted to investigate the concentration of carbon monoxide (CO) in a car cabin under suicide attempts with different vehicles and different start situations, and a mathematical model describing CO concentrations in the cabin was constructed.
Abstract
Three cars were set up to donate the exhaust. The first vehicle did not have any catalyst, the second vehicle was equipped with a malfunctioning three-way catalyst, and the third vehicle was equipped with a well-functioning three-way catalyst. The three different starting situations were cold, tepid, and warm engine start, respectively. Measurements of CO concentrations were made in the cabin and in the exhaust pipe. Lethal CO concentrations were measured in the cabin using all three vehicles. In most cases, the mathematical model gave good predictions of CO concentrations in the cabin. Measurements showed differences among vehicles in transient CO emissions from the engine and indicated it would be possible to commit suicide by CO poisoning using a car equipped with a catalytic converter. An appendix describes the mathematical model. 13 references, 1 table, and 10 figures