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- Title
Diagnosis of aluminum phosphide poisoning using a new analytical approach: forensic application to a lethal intoxication.
- Authors
Yan, Hui; Xiang, Ping; Zhang, Sujing; Shen, Baohua; Shen, Min
- Abstract
Aluminum phosphide (AlP) is an effective and cheap pesticide that is commonly used worldwide, but it is also a common cause of human poisoning and carries a high mortality rate. AlP reacts with moisture in air, water, and hydrochloric acid in the stomach to produce phosphine (PH) gas. Two routes of exposure are ingestion of AlP and inhalation of phosphine generated by the action of moisture on AlP. Absorbed phosphine is rapidly metabolized into phosphite and hypophosphite. A method is described for the analysis of the phosphine metabolites in various biological matrices. The method involves reacting the sample with zinc and aqueous HSO in a volatile organic analysis vial. The metabolites were transformed into phosphine gas and then analyzed by headspace gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (HS-GC-MS). This method is capable of detecting quantities of PH as low as 0.2 μg/mL in a sample. After validation, the method was applied to animal experiments and a real case of human AlP intoxication. This approach has the advantage of detecting metabolites of PH, in case the PH was converted, and can be considered a useful additional tool for the diagnosis of AlP poisoning in forensic science.
- Subjects
ALUMINUM phosphide; PHOSPHINE; HYPOPHOSPHITES; TOXICOLOGY of poisonous gases; GAS chromatography/Mass spectrometry (GC-MS)
- Publication
International Journal of Legal Medicine, 2017, Vol 131, Issue 4, p1001
- ISSN
0937-9827
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s00414-017-1562-1