Toxicological analysis of 17 autopsy cases of hydrogen sulfide poisoning resulting from the inhalation of intentionally generated hydrogen sulfide gas

Maebashi, Kyoko; Iwadate, Kimiharu; Sakai, Kentaro; Takatsu, Akihiro; Fukui, Kenji; Aoyagi, Miwako; Ochiai, Eriko; Nagai, Tatsuo

doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2010.09.008

Cited by 63 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 22 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Towards the end of 2000s, suicide by inhalation of HS gas was introduced, and it has rapidly become a widespread technique in Japan (9,13). Recent reporting of a suicide pact using this gas in the UK led to concerns that a similar rise in suicides might occur (23).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The most prevalent method of suicide differ among communities such as jumping from heights in South Korea and hanging in Japan, jumping in front of moving objects in Finland, use of firearms in the United States (7). Some of the methods that have recently become popular include mixing chemicals to produce hydrogen sulfide gas (9), and the use of helium gas (10).…”

Section: öZetmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Besides existing in the volcanoes, coke oven plants, hot springs and other geothermal sources, it is produced by putrefaction of sulfur containing organic materials, accounting for the foul smell in sewage systems, swamps, manure-handling plants, and tanneries (11,12). Adverse effects of HS on human health vary from local irritation to immediate death depending on the form, concentration, duration and route of exposure (9,13,14). It has a distinctive pungent odor often described as "rotten egg" smell starting to be felt at low concentrations ranging from 0.0005 to 0.3 parts per million (ppm).…”

Section: öZetmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Suicide by Homemade Hydrogen Sulfide in Turkey a Case Report

Koçak¹,

Alpaslan

Yağan

et al. 2016

Bull Leg Med

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Suicide is a major public health problem and globally the second leading cause of death among young adults. Most of deaths due to H2S were seen among sewage or industrial workers because of acute exposure to this gas. Suicide by inhalation of homemade H2S has been reported for the first time in Japan, in 2007. In this study, for the first time, a 24-years-old male university student (from Turkey) preparing homemade H2S by using commercially available chemical products that were bought online in order to suicide was reported. The case is discussed in the light of related literature.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: öZetmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: öZetmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Suicide by Homemade Hydrogen Sulfide in Turkey a Case Report

Koçak¹,

Alpaslan

Yağan

et al. 2016

Bull Leg Med

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…8,9) In our previous study, "Cocktail" probe drugs approach is used to evaluate the induction or inhibition effects of chronic hydrogen sulfide poisoning on the activities of rats cytochrome P450 isoforms such as CYP1A2, CYP2C9, CYP2B6 and CYP2D6, as a result chronic hydrogen sulfide poisoning could induce the activity of CYP1A2 and CYP2B6 in rats.…”

Section: Abstract Metabolomics; Gc/ms; Acute Hydrogen Sulfide Poisoningmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Evaluation of Acute Hydrogen Sulfide Poisoning in Rats through Serum Metabolomics Based on Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

Zhang

Deng

et al. 2014

CHEMICAL & PHARMACEUTICAL BULLETIN

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) is the second leading cause of toxinrelated deaths in the operational site. Its main target organs of toxic effects are the central nervous system and respiratory system. In this study, we developed a serum metabonomic method, based on gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS), to evaluate the effect of acute poisoning by hydrogen sulfide on rats. Pattern recognition analysis, including both principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares-discriminate analysis (PLS-DA), revealed that acute hydrogen sulfide poisoning induced metabolic perturbations. Compared to the control group, the level of urea, glucose, glyceryl stearate in rat serum of the poisoning group increased after two hours, and the level of glucose, docosahexaenoic acid, glyceryl stearate and arachidonic acid in rat serum of the poisoning group increased after 48 h, while the L-valine, galactose, L-tyrosine levels decreased. Our results indicate that metabonomic methods based on GC/MS may be useful to elucidate acute hydrogen sulfide poisoning through the exploration of biomarkers. Key words metabolomics; GC/MS; acute hydrogen sulfide poisoningHydrogen sulfide is a colorless, flammable, and extremely hazardous gas that naturally occurs in hot springs, crude petroleum, and natural gas. The bacterial decomposition of organic materials and human or animal waste also generates hydrogen sulfide.Forensic toxicology has shown that hydrogen sulfide is one of the most toxic gases.1) It has been reported that if 500 ppm of hydrogen sulfide is in the air, inhalation will rapidly lead to severe poisoning, and that 900 ppm of hydrogen sulfide in the air will cause fatality immediately.2) Accidents have been reported in chemical processing plants, 3,4) in sewage disposal facilities, 5) and after the ingestion of sulfur products.6) It is difficult to quantify original hydrogen sulfide levels, because the gas produced in these situations is unstable and rapidly metabolized as thiosulfate and sulfate through hepatic oxidation.7) Toxicological analyses of sulfide and thiosulfate, a metabolite of sulfide, in blood and urine of the victims were made after fatal hydrogen sulfide poisoning in the forensic case, using the extractive alkylation technique combined with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. 8,9) In our previous study, "Cocktail" probe drugs approach is used to evaluate the induction or inhibition effects of chronic hydrogen sulfide poisoning on the activities of rats cytochrome P450 isoforms such as CYP1A2, CYP2C9, CYP2B6 and CYP2D6, as a result chronic hydrogen sulfide poisoning could induce the activity of CYP1A2 and CYP2B6 in rats. 10)"Metabonomics" has been defined as "the quantitative measurement of the time-related, multi-parametric metabolic response of living systems to pathophysiological stimuli or genetic modification." 11) Metabolomics is a scientific study that aims to identify and quantify the levels of all metabolites; it has been applied widely in many areas, such as medicine, biology, and food science.1...

show abstract

“…Hydrogen sulfide is one of the major toxic gases in forensic practice. The toxicodynamic effect of hydrogen sulfide is similar to cyanides in that it binds to cytochrome C oxidase and is classified as a cellular asphyxiant [7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%