Author(s)

Satoshi Furukawa^*, Satomu Morita, Katsuji Nishi, Masahito Hitosugi

Department of Legal Medicine, Shiga University of Medical Science, Shiga, Japan.

We experienced an autopsy case of a death associated with ingestion of liquid detergent. The deceased was an 82-year-old woman who was found dead in her bed room. Autopsy revealed corrosive changes of the mucosal surfaces of the lung. The larynx, trachea and stomach contained mucoid matter with abundant froth. Toxicological investigations detected polyethylene glycol in the bronchus, blood and gastric contents using headspace-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Surfactants generally have low toxicity but can cause damage to the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract. We report here an autopsy case of death by suicidal ingestion of liquid detergent with special regard to the histochemical findings of the case study.

Liquid Detergent, Suicidal Ingestion, Surfactant, Corrosive Change, Autopsy

Furukawa, S. , Morita, S. , Nishi, K. and Hitosugi, M. (2014) A Case and Review of Death Associated with Ingestion of Detergent. Forensic Medicine and Anatomy Research, 2, 89-94. doi: 10.4236/fmar.2014.24015.