Oral Presentations - Pathology and Laboratory Medicine - University ...

OtherWalter Martz and Henry KaliciakDepartment of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine,University of British ColumbiaAbstract # 48Walter Martzdeath by boric acid - was surekiller® a sure killer?Backround/ObjectivesA 45 year old male was found deceased. Initial toxicological analyses did not reveal any involvement of alcohol,medications or drugs. A bottle of an insecticide (Surekiller®) was found at the scene. As the primary toxicology did notindicate an intoxication, the analyses focussed on the major ingredient of this insecticide - boric acid. The possiblecontribution of an ingestion of an insecticide containing boric acid to the cause of death is discussed.MethodsPrimary toxicology encompassed Liquid Liquid Extraction, Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (LCMS)and Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GCMS) screens, High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)equipped with Diode Array Detector (DAD) and Gas Chromatography (GC) equipped with Flame IonizationDetector (FID) or Nitrogen-Phosphorous Detector (NPD) for alcohol, drugs and medications. Boron was determinedusing Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICPMS).ResultsNo drugs, alcohol or medications other than Zolpidem (0.39 mg/L femoral blood) were detected. Boron was found inanother aliquot of blood at 19 mg/L, in urine at 520 mg/L and in gastric fluid at 740 mg/L.ConclusionWhile boric acid is not particularly recognized as highly toxic, there is indication in the literature that it may havecontributed to the cause of death in this case.Poster Presentations * 2 0 1 059