Investigation into the potential for post-mortem formation of carboxyhemoglobin in bodies retrieved from fires
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Investigation into the potential for post-mortem formation of carboxyhemoglobin in bodies retrieved from fires Claire J. Sully 1 & G. Stewart Walker 1 & Neil E. I. Langlois 2,3 Accepted: 5 June 2018 # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2018
Abstract The forensic investigation of a deceased person retrieved following a fire includes measuring carboxyhemoglobin. A carboxyhemoglobin saturation above 10% is considered indicative of respiration during a fire, implying the person had been alive. This relies on the assumption that carbon monoxide will not diffuse into blood used for toxicological analysis. This project investigated the potential for carbon monoxide to passively diffuse into a body and if carboxyhemoglobin levels could become elevated post-mortem. Stillborn piglets with intact skin were exposed to carbon monoxide. Carboxyhemoglobin formed in the hypostasis of the skin, but carboxyhemoglobin levels in blood from the heart and chest cavities were not significantly elevated. However, defects in the skin over body cavities (producing breaches to replicate cases with stab wounds or heat damage) resulted in cavity blood carboxyhemoglobin levels above 10%. A review of fire death cases in South Australia 2000–2015 was performed to determine the origin of the blood samples used for toxicological analysis and the incidence of cases with breaches of body cavities. This revealed a small number of cases in which blood from the cavities had been analyzed when cavity breaches were present. Thus, there is a potential for significant elevation of carboxyhemoglobin saturation post-mortem in forensic casework involving bodies retrieved from fires. Keywords Fire . Carboxyhemoglobin . Hypostasis . Carbon monoxide . Cavity defect . Diffusion . Animal model . Autopsy
Introduction Red blood cells contain hemoglobin that transports gases [1]. During respiration, oxygen diffuses into the bloodstream and binds to hemoglobin to form oxyhemoglobin (O2Hb), which appears bright red and has two absorbance peaks around 536 nm and 577 nm by spectroscopy. Blood is transported around the body where hemoglobin releases oxygen becoming deoxyhemoglobin (Hb), which is darker red in color and has a spectrum with a broad peak around 560 nm [2–4]. Carbon monoxide is a colorless and odorless gas which when inhaled, is a leading cause of death during
* Neil E. I. Langlois [email protected] 1
College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Sturt Rd, Bedford Park, SA 5042, Australia
2
Forensic Science SA, GPO Box 2790, Adelaide, South Australia 5001, Australia
3
School of Medicine, University of Adelaide, Frome Road, Adelaide, South Australia 5005, Australia
a fire [5]. The environmental carbon monoxide levels can be as low as 0.02% if a fire is well ventilated, whereas smoldering, poorly ventilated fires can produce between 1 and 10% carbon monoxide [6]. Carbon monoxide binds to hemoglobin producing carboxyhemoglobin (COHb), which is described as cherry red in color [7–9] and is spec
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