Post-Mortem Analysis of Diazinon and its major Metabolite, 2-isopropyl-4- methyl-6-hydroxypyrimidine, in a Case of Fatal Diazinon Ingestion

Abstract

This case report describes a detection and quantitation method for diazinon and its major metabolite, 2-isopropyl-4-methyl-6-hydroxypyrimidine (IMHP), in postmortem blood and tissue samples from a fatal case of diazinon ingestion. Diazinon and IMHP were extracted from postmortem samples with a liquid/liquid method and analyzed by gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC/MS). By comparing to diazinon standard and matching the retention time, diazinon was detected in two visceral organs, the stomach (0.89 μg/g) and the small intestine (8.80 μg/g). The highest level of diazinon was detected in the small intestine (8.80 μg/g), whereas the highest amount of IMHP was noted in the kidney (0.84 Area %) and bladder (0.75 Area %). In conclusion, determination of IMHP in postmortem samples could be used as an indicator for diazinon exposure, especially in the case of delayed death; whereas, the small intestine could be the best source of sample in diazinon assessment in cases of fatal diazinon ingestion.

Keywords

• forensic sciences
• diazinon
• imhp
• pesticides
• gcms
• postmortem
• forensic toxicology.