Hitosugi Masahito, Tojo Misa, Kane Masateru, Shiomi Naoto, Shimizu Takeshi, Nomiyama Tetsuo
Department of Legal Medicine, Shiga University of Medical Science, Otsu, Shiga, 520-2192, Japan.
Forensic Science Laboratory, Shiga Prefectural Police Headquarters, Otsu, Shiga, 520-0106, Japan.
Int J Legal Med. 2019 Mar;133(2):479-481. doi: 10.1007/s00414-018-1923-4. Epub 2018 Sep 3.
We report an unusual case of mercury vapor poisoning from using a heated tobacco product. The suspect had added grains of mercury into 20 cigarettes in a pack. When a 36-year-old Japanese man inserted one of these cigarettes into the battery powered holder, it was heated to a temperature of 350 °C, and he inhaled vaporized mercury. After using 14 of the cigarettes over 16 h, he noticed he had flu-like symptoms so he visited the hospital. Although no physical abnormalities were revealed, 99 μg/L of mercury was detected in his serum sample. His general condition improved gradually and his whole blood mercury level had decreased to 38 μg/L 5 days later. When the remaining six cigarettes in the pack were examined, many metallic grains weighing a total of 1.57 g were observed. Energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry confirmed the grains as elemental mercury. Accordingly, the victim was diagnosed with mercury poisoning. Because the mercury was incorporated into cigarettes, an unusual and novel intoxication occurred through the heating of the tobacco product. Both medical and forensic scientific examination confirmed this event as attempted murder.
我们报告了一例因使用加热烟草制品导致汞蒸气中毒的罕见病例。嫌疑人在一包20支香烟中添加了汞粒。一名36岁的日本男子将其中一支香烟插入电池供电的烟杆中，香烟被加热到350°C，他吸入了汽化的汞。在16小时内吸食了14支这种香烟后，他注意到自己出现了类似流感的症状，于是前往医院就诊。尽管未发现身体异常，但在他的血清样本中检测到汞含量为99μg/L。他的总体状况逐渐改善，5天后他的全血汞水平降至38μg/L。当检查该包中剩余的6支香烟时，发现了许多金属颗粒，总重1.57克。能量色散X射线荧光光谱法确认这些颗粒为元素汞。因此，受害者被诊断为汞中毒。由于汞被掺入香烟中，通过加热烟草制品发生了一种不寻常的新型中毒事件。医学和法医学检查均证实这一事件为谋杀未遂。
