An Unexpected Death Related to Accidental Gasoline Inhalation.

Kim, So Woon; Lee, Young Man; Lee, Kyounghong; Park, Jong Shin; Park, Jaehong; Choi, Byung Ha; Park, Sohyung

doi:2016.40.3.83

Korean J Leg Med > Volume 40(3); 2016 > Article

Case Report

Korean Journal of Legal Medicine 2016;40(3):83-87.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7580/kjlm.2016.40.3.83 Published online August 31, 2016.

An Unexpected Death Related to Accidental Gasoline Inhalation.

So Woon Kim, Young Man Lee, Kyounghong Lee, Jong Shin Park, Jaehong Park, Byung Ha Choi, Sohyung Park

¹Department of Pathology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
²Department of Forensic Medicine Investigation, National Forensic Service Seoul Institute, Seoul, Korea.
³Forensic Toxicology & Chemistry Division, National Forensic Service Seoul Institute, Seoul, Korea.
⁴Medical Examiner's Office, National Forensic Service, Wonju, Korea. zzeva@korea.kr

Abstract

Gasoline is a chemical compound of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, and it easily vaporizes because of its volatile characteristics. Gasoline inhalation may occur accidentally or intentionally in various situations which could result in acute non-lethal or lethal intoxication. Given that gasoline is widely used in everyday life, it is surprising that deaths related to gasoline inhalation rarely occur. We presented a rare case of unexpected death related to gasoline inhalation with the postmortem findings and features.

Key Words: Gasoline, Inhalation, Sudden death, Poisoning, Autopsy, Forensic toxicology