A Case of Aldicarb Poisoning: A Possible Murder Attempt

A couple showing signs of cholinergic crisis was admitted to the hospital. Analyses with high-performance liquid chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry conducted on serum, urine, and stomach contents that were collected few hours after first symptoms showed the presence of aldicarb,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of analytical toxicology Vol. 23; no. 4; pp. 290 - 293
Main Authors Covaci, A., Manirakiza, P., Coucke, V., Beckers, R., Jorens, Ph.G., Schepens, P.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Niles, IL Oxford University Press 01.07.1999
Preston
Subjects
Aged
Aldicarb - analysis
Aldicarb - poisoning
Atropine - therapeutic use
Biological and medical sciences
Cholinesterase Reactivators - therapeutic use
Coffee
Crime
Female
Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry
Humans
Insecticides - analysis
Insecticides - poisoning
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Muscarinic Antagonists - therapeutic use
Obidoxime Chloride - therapeutic use
Pesticides, fertilizers and other agrochemicals toxicology
Poisoning - diagnosis
Toxicology
Biological fluid
Chemical analysis
Insecticide
Toxicity
Cholinesterase reactivator
HPLC chromatography
Forensic aspect
Organic carbamate
Blood
Atropine
Woman
Quantitative analysis
Human
Urine
Coupled method
Pesticides
Alimentary bolus
Gas chromatography
Chemotherapy
Ultraviolet detector
Treatment
Aldicarb
Poisoning
Antidote
Blood serum
Mass spectrometry
Obidoxime chloride
Parasympatholytic
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Summary:A couple showing signs of cholinergic crisis was admitted to the hospital. Analyses with high-performance liquid chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry conducted on serum, urine, and stomach contents that were collected few hours after first symptoms showed the presence of aldicarb, which is the most potent carbamate insecticide on the market. A murder attempt was suspected because the patients showed the first signs some minutes after drinking coffee upon returning home and no commercial products containing aldicarb were found in the house. Because of the reversibility of inhibition of acetylcholinesterase, the patients recovered after treatment with atropine and toxogonin. They left the hospital after 12 days. To our knowledge, the serum concentrations of aldicarb reported in this paper are the highest reported for a nonfatal case.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-1
content type line 23
ISSN:0146-4760
1945-2403
DOI:10.1093/jat/23.4.290