Journal of analytical toxicology
-
The purpose of this paper is to report a case of fluoride poisoning along with a discussion of poisoning characteristics, analytical procedures, and a review of previous reports of fatal intoxications with analytical data. A case of suicidal ingestion of 40 mL of a rust removal agent containing hydrofluoric acid and ammonium fluoride by a 33-year-old white male is presented. He had an organic personality disorder with residual schizophrenia and previous suicide attempts with therapeutic drugs and cleaning products. ⋯ Fluoride analyses using the ion selective electrode are simple, sensitive, and rapid. This report provides an extensive tissue distribution study of fluoride after a well documented case of acute poisoning. Based on the autopsy findings, patient history, toxicology results, and previously reported data the forensic pathologists ruled that the cause of death was due to a fluoride poisoning, and the manner of death was listed as suicide.
-
Testing oral fluid for drugs of abuse has been studied under many conditions but rarely has been evaluated in large population databases. We evaluated oral fluid tests in a database from a commercial laboratory in the United Kingdom composed of 8679 confirmed positive results. The results originated from 635,000 specimens collected over the period of May 2004 through September 2006. ⋯ The frequency of detection of 6-acetylmorphine when morphine was present (N = 4575 specimens) was 77.5%. Surprisingly, heroin (19.0%; N = 1091 specimens) and 6-acetylcodeine (24.9%; N = 1431 specimens) were frequently reported. The results from analysis of this large oral fluid database offer a rich mixture of new information on detection frequency, drug and metabolite patterns, and concentration data on drugs of abuse.