Postmortem changes of ingested thinner components in tissues.

Postmortem changes of thinner components in body tissues were examined in rats, orally given 1 ml of standard thinner solution, which was prepared by mixing toluene, ethyl acetate and isobutanol in the proportion of 8:1:1. Analysis was made by gas chromatography combined with the head space method. Three thinner components and ethanol, a metabolite of ethyl acetate, were detected in the gastric contents of all rats up until 48 hours after death. An increase in the concentration of toluene was found in the blood, lung, kidney, liver, brain and abdominal muscle with the lapse of time. On the other hand, no changes were observed in the thigh muscle throughout the 48-hour period. Isobutanol showed a similar increasing pattern to toluene, with little or no changes in the brain or in the thigh muscle. Ethyl acetate was not detected in any tissues throughout the study but it was found in the gastric contents. The results indicate that every thinner component ingested, gradually diffuses into the surrounding tissues through the stomach wall after death, and that only muscle tissue remote from the abdominal cavity, together with the gastric contents, should be analyzed for a correct diagnosis of thinner ingestion.