Journal List > Korean J Leg Med > v.40(3) > 1087998

TOOLS
Kim, Lee, Lee, Park, Park, Choi, and Park: An Unexpected Death Related to Accidental Gasoline Inhalation
Original Article

Korean J Leg Med 2016;40(3):83-87.

Published online: 19 December 2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.7580/kjlm.2016.40.3.83

An Unexpected Death Related to Accidental Gasoline Inhalation

So-Woon Kim1, Kyounghong Lee2, Young-Man Lee2, Jong-Shin Park3, Jaehong Park4, Byung Ha Choi4, Sohyung Park4

1Department of Pathology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

2Department of Forensic Medicine Investigation, National Forensic Service Seoul Institute, Seoul, Korea

3Forensic Toxicology & Chemistry Division, National Forensic Service Seoul Institute, Seoul, Korea

4Medical Examiner's Office, National Forensic Service, Wonju, Korea

Correspondence to Sohyung Park Medical Examiner's Office, National Forensic Service, 10 Ipchun-ro, Wonju 26460, Korea Tel: +82-2-2600-4614 Fax: +82-2-2600-4828 E-mail: zzeva@korea.kr

Received 31 July 201623 August 2016       Accepted 25 August 2016

Copyright © 2016 The Korean Society for Legal Medicine

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Gasoline is a chemical compound of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, and it easily vaporizes because of its volatile characteristics. Gasoline inhalation may occur accidentally or intentionally in various situations which could result in acute non-lethal or lethal intoxication. Given that gasoline is widely used in everyday life, it is surprising that deaths related to gasoline inhalation rarely occur. We presented a rare case of unexpected death related to gasoline inhalation with the postmortem findings and features.

Keywords: Gasoline, Inhalation, Sudden death, Poisoning, Autopsy, Forensic toxicology

REFERENCES

1.Martinez MA., Ballesteros S., Alcaraz R. Reporting a sudden death due to accidental gasoline inhalation. Forensic Sci Int. 2012. 215:114–20.
2.Martinez MA., Ballesteros S. Investigation of fatalities due to acute gasoline poisoning. J Anal Toxicol. 2005. 29:643–51.
crossref
3.Aidin R. Petrol-vapour poisoning. Br Med J. 1958. 2:369–70.
crossref
4.Wick R., Gilbert JD., Felgate P, et al. Inhalant deaths in South Australia: a 20-year retrospective autopsy study. Am J Forensic Med Pathol. 2007. 28:319–22.
5.Yorukoglu D., Sen S., Saygin B. Sudden death from inhalation of petrol vapour. Anaesthesia. 1999. 54:302.
crossref
6.Baselt RC. Disposition of toxic drugs and chemicals in man. 10th ed.Seal Beach, CA: Biomedical Publication;2014. p. 937–8.
7.Lee KW., Lee JH. Two cases of hydrocarbon (gasoline) intoxication following ingestion and inhalation. J Korean Soc Emerg Med. 2001. 12:551–9.
8.Kim SJ., Jung NK. Case of chemical pneumonitis and cellulitis after suicide attempt by arteriovenous distula injection of gasoline. J Korean Soc Emerg Med. 2011. 22:370–5.
9.Kim JK., Jang TW., Jung MH, et al. A case of pneumonitis induced by gasoline intoxication. Korean J Med. 2009. 76:494–8.

Fig. 1.
(A) The cover of the upper compartment of the gasoline tank is shown. (B) The gasoline tank comprised two compartments; the upper compartment was like a manhole; cylindrical, approximately 1.5 m in height and 0.7 m in diameter, and the lower compartment as a storage tank for unleaded gasoline, was bigger than the upper one.
kjlm-40-83-f1.tif
Fig. 2.
The mask which the deceased was wearing is shown. It seems to be a mask to prevent gas or dust, depending on what kind of filter is used.
kjlm-40-83-f2.tif
TOOLS
Similar articles