Journal of forensic and legal medicine
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Case Reports
Self inflicted death following inhalation and ingestion of Builders Polyurethane expandable foam.
Builders Polyurethane (PU) expandable foam is a product used to fill voids and provide insulation in the building industry. It is easily available from DIY and hardware stores. Other uses include pest control. ⋯ A literature review revealed one definite case of attempted suicide, one possible attempt by ingestion of Builders PU expandable foam and one accidental non fatal injection of such foam into the lower urinary tract. There is one report of accidental non fatal inhalation of foam. To our knowledge this is the first case of fatal inhalation and ingestion of Builders Polyurethane expandable foam.
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Test shots at cloth and at human skin from autopsy material were performed with 7.62 mm Tokarev (TT), 9 mm Makarov (PM) and 9 × 19 mm Glock 19 pistols, using common ammunition. The largest central material defects, with fibre deformation in cotton, the largest burn holes in polyester, and also many fibre defects caused by the perforation of powder, were produced in shots from the TT at all distances. Tears in the cloth were longest in the case of the TT at 1 cm and were present at 3 cm, whereas the shots from the PM and the Glock 19 did not leave tears. ⋯ The soot and most of the gunpowder particles were present on the tissue sections, which originated from the central area around the skin defect and were detected in the epidermis and in both layers of the dermis. Some tears and recesses in the epidermis were also seen. The further the distance from the centre of skin defect to the periphery, the depth of the penetration of the powder into the skin decreased.