Post mortem ethanol detection in corpses after embalming – preliminary study

• Authors: Marcin Tomsia , Joanna Nowicka , Elżbieta Chełmecka

Title variants

PL

Pośmiertna detekcja etanolu w zwłokach poddanych balsamacji – badania wstępne

• Languages of publication: EN PL

Abstracts

EN

Nowadays, embalming has become more popular as it is often performed due to sanitary, hygienic, or psychological reasons. In special circumstances, like transporting a corpse from abroad, embalming is an administrative requirement. Embalming is performed using chemical substances that inhibit enzymes, bacteriological activity, and therefore cease decomposition processes. The study shows the toxicological analyses of sampled materials collected during post mortem examinations performed on six corpses subjected to the embalming process. It also presents the concentration of used preservatives in the tissues and body fluids. Analysis performed using gas chromatography with a flame ionization detector (GC-FID) revealed that in five cases, the deceased were intoxicated with ethanol during the time of death, and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) excluded the presence of psychoactive substances in all six cases. The results showed that in cases of toxicological analyses of embalmed corpses, it is crucial to secure isolated body fluids, such as cerebrospinal fluid, vitreous humor, and a wide range of reference material.

PL

Balsamacja zwłok staje się coraz bardziej popularna ze względów sanitarnych, higienicznych lub psychologicznych. W szczególnych okolicznościach, jak transport zwłok z zagranicy, balsamowanie jest wymogiem administracyjnym. Balsamacja odbywa się za pomocą substancji chemicznych, które hamują aktywność enzymatyczną i bakteriologiczną, wstrzymując tym samym procesy rozkładu. Prezentowana praca przedstawia analizy toksykologiczne materiałów po-branych podczas sekcji sześciu zwłok poddanych procesom balsamowania oraz wyniki pomiarów stężenia użytych konserwantów w tkankach i płynach ustrojowych badanych zwłok. Analiza przeprowadzona za pomocą chromatografii gazowej z detektorem płomieniowo-jonizacyjnym (gas chromatography with a flame ionization detector – GC-FID) udowodniła obecność etanolu w pięciu przypadkach. Chromatografia cieczowa połączona ze spektrometrią mas (liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry – LC-MS) wykluczyła obecność substancji psychoaktywnych we wszystkich sześciu przypadkach. Wyniki wykazały, że w przypadku analiz toksykologicznych zabalsamowanych zwłok kluczowe znaczenie ma zabezpieczenie izolowanych płynów ustrojowych, takich jak płyn mózgowo-rdzeniowy, płyn gałki ocznej, oraz wielu materiałów referencyjnych.

Keywords

EN

analiza pośmiertna; balsamacja; embalming; etanol; ethanol; post mortem analysis

Discipline

• MEDICINE: MEDICINE

• Publisher: Śląski Uniwersytet Medyczny w Katowicach
• Journal: Annales Academiae Medicae Silesiensis
• Year: 2022
• Issue: 76
• Pages: 140-146

Contributors

author

Marcin Tomsia

• Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Faculty of Medical Sciences in Katowice, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland

author

Joanna Nowicka

• Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Faculty of Medical Sciences in Katowice, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland

author

Elżbieta Chełmecka

• Department of Statistics, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences in Sosnowiec, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland

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• Document Type: article