Söderberg Carl, Rodushkin Llia, Johansson Anna, Kugelberg Fredrik C
Department of Forensic Genetics and Forensic Toxicology, National Board of Forensic Medicine, Artillerigatan 12, 587 58, Linköping, Sweden.
Division of Geosciences, Luleå University of Technology, 971 87, Luleå, Sweden.
Int J Legal Med. 2023 May;137(3):655-669. doi: 10.1007/s00414-023-02952-z. Epub 2023 Jan 30.
Fatal intoxications, both accidental and intentional, are a global issue. In the Western world, intoxications with pharmaceuticals dominate, but in other parts of the world, other substances are more common. In a forensic setting, elemental intoxications are of great importance when investigating both accidental, suicidal, and homicidal deaths. The current study presents normal postmortem reference concentrations of 68 elements in femoral blood and urine. In addition, possible sources of error such as contamination from sample tubes, preservative potassium fluoride (KF) solution, and storage time are evaluated.
Paired femoral blood and urine samples from 120 cases of death by suicidal hanging in Sweden were collected. Additionally, multiple batches of sample tubes and multiple batches of KF solution were also analyzed. Concentrations of elements were determined by double focusing sector field ICP-MS.
Key descriptive statistics for 68 elements are provided in blood and urine. Contamination from sample tubes was minor compared to the overall mean elemental concentrations in both blood and urine. KF solution contained a large assortment of elements, but the overall contribution is relatively minor for most elements given the small amounts of solution added to samples. There were significant differences for 22 elements in blood and 17 elements in urine between samples with short and long storage time.
The present study provides an important tool when evaluating postmortem elemental concentrations. It fills a needed gap between large antemortem population studies and postmortem case reports or small case series of elemental intoxications.
致命中毒，包括意外和故意中毒，是一个全球性问题。在西方世界，药物中毒占主导地位，但在世界其他地区，其他物质更为常见。在法医环境中，在调查意外、自杀和他杀死亡时，元素中毒至关重要。本研究给出了股动脉血和尿液中68种元素的正常死后参考浓度。此外，还评估了可能的误差来源，如样品管、防腐剂氟化钾（KF）溶液的污染以及储存时间。
收集了瑞典120例自缢死亡病例的配对股动脉血和尿液样本。此外，还分析了多批次的样品管和多批次的KF溶液。通过双聚焦扇形场电感耦合等离子体质谱法测定元素浓度。
给出了血液和尿液中68种元素的关键描述性统计数据。与血液和尿液中的总体平均元素浓度相比，样品管的污染较小。KF溶液含有多种元素，但考虑到添加到样品中的溶液量较少，大多数元素的总体贡献相对较小。储存时间短和长的样品之间，血液中有22种元素、尿液中有17种元素存在显著差异。
本研究为评估死后元素浓度提供了一个重要工具。它填补了大型生前人群研究与死后病例报告或小型元素中毒病例系列之间的必要空白。
