Fatal Case Caused by Organophosphorus Insecticide Intoxication and Confirmed by the Metabolite Found in the Blood

• NCJ Number: 139923
• Journal: Japanese Journal of Legal Medicine Volume: 46 Issue: 4 Dated: (1992) Pages: 276- 281
• Author(s): M Yashiki; T Miyazaki; Y Iwasaki; T Taniguchi; T Kojima; K Sakai; M Hiraga
• Date Published: 1992
• Length: 6 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: Japan

Annotation

An elderly Japanese woman and two other relatives were poisoned after eating lettuce prepared with Ethimethon Granule 6, a mixture of organophosphorus pesticides, disulfoton, and diazinon, instead of salt.

Abstract

All three victims were admitted to the hospital, where the elderly woman died 22 hours after ingestion; the two others recovered. Samples of disulfoton and diazinon in the lettuce were recovered and confirmed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. However, the blood sample collected during the autopsy did not reveal any traces of the organophosphorus pesticides. A metabolite of disulfoton, phosphorothiaolate sulfone, was detected by FPD-gas chromatography and confirmed through gas chromatography-mass spectrometry techniques. 3 figures and 6 references