Distribution of Chloralose in a Fatal Intoxication

Abstract

Chloralose (alpha-chloralose) is a poisonous substance currently used as a rodenticide or avicide. It has primarily been used in Europe since 1893 as a human and veterinary hypnotic agent. Chloralose is a central nervous system depressant also acting as a stimulant on spinal reflexes. In the present case, a 24-year-old man was found dead in his bedroom near vomit residues. Several items were seized from the scene, including an empty bottle of Murex 50 g (α-chloralose), sold in Italy as rodenticide. Postmortem examination revealed no evidence of natural disease or trauma. Heart blood, urine, gastric contents, vitreous humour, brain, bile and liver were collected and submitted for toxicological analysis. Several extraction procedures and a specific liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry protocol were purposely developed and validated. Chloralose was found in blood at a concentration of 65.1 mg/L and high levels were also detected in the gastric contents, confirming its ingestion shortly before the man's death. The distribution of chloralose in the body was evaluated by analyzing urine, vitreous humour, brain, bile and liver specimens. Quantitation of chloralose in several body fluids and tissues adds new data about the distribution of this chemical in the human body after massive ingestion.

α‐Chloralose poisoning in a cat

“…In people, both accidental and intentional AC poisoning with either fatal or non‐fatal outcome have been reported (Thomas and others 1988, Federici and others 2006, Gerace and others 2012). Typical clinical features included coma and generalised convulsions (Thomas and others 1988).…”

Antemortem and postmortem rodenticide analysis in forensic toxicology as a part of an LC‐MS/MS‐based multi‐target screening strategy

“…However, these substances are also dangerous for domestic animals such as cats and dogs, as secondary poisoning might occur when a predator eats a poisoned rodent. Additionally, since human poisoning with rodenticides also occurs on a regular basis, a reliable and convenient identification of relevant substances in forensic toxicological laboratories is important 1–5 …”

“…Additionally, since human poisoning with rodenticides also occurs on a regular basis, a reliable and convenient identification of relevant substances in forensic toxicological laboratories is important. [1][2][3][4][5] There are several classes of rodenticides. Based on our own searches, it was found that different coumarin derivatives (brodifacoum, bromadiolone, coumatetralyl, difenacoum, and warfarin) as anticoagulants and α-chloralose with anesthetic and sedative properties are readily commercially available.…”

Development and Validation of a Quantitative UHPLC–MS-MS Method for the Determination of Alpha-Chloralose in Feline Blood and Application on Blood Samples Collected from Cats with Symptoms of Alpha-Chloralose Poisoning

“…AC is no longer used clinically either in veterinary or in human clinical practice. It is however still used as a rodenticide and as an anesthetic agent to sedate laboratory animals ( 3 , 5 , 6 , 8 , 9 ), and peer-reviewed case reports summarizing the clinical symptoms of AC poisoning in humans and several animal species, including human cases with lethal outcomes, are available ( 3–6 , 9–11 ). Together, the data in such reports describe a range of neurological symptoms similar to what are described in older experimental studies evaluating the toxic effects of AC.…”

“…Hunter et al. applied LC–MS-MS to analyze stomach content and tissue samples from poisoned birds of prey ( 16 ), and Gerace and co-workers studied the distribution of AC in the human body in a postmortem investigation of a fatal AC intoxication case ( 6 ), and Leporati et al. analyzed rodenticides in human hair ( 17 ).…”