Fatal intoxication due to an unexpected presence of carbon dioxide.

A fatal accident which occurred in a tank containing a sludge made of wine and activated charcoal is described. Similar accidents in the wine industry seem to have never been reported before. Initially, the cause of death was not obvious and became clear only after the autopsy confirmed the presence of a very high concentration of carbon dioxide in blood. It is shown in this paper how the concentration of carbon dioxide in the tank could be estimated from its solubility in water, assuming a realistic content of this gas in the wine remaining in the sludge. Moreover the accident was analysed by the fault tree method which revealed that, as well as the deficiencies in risk management of such companies, the unsuspected presence of carbon dioxide played a significant role.