Postmortem Determination of the Biological Distribution of Formic Acid in Methanol Intoxication

• NCJ Number: 130229
• Journal: Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 36 Issue: 3 Dated: (May 1991) Pages: 936-938
• Author(s): E Tanaka; K Honda; H Horiguchi; S Misawa
• Date Published: 1991
• Length: 3 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Two 25-year-old men were fatally intoxicated with methanol. The formic acid levels in their blood, urine, and organs were determined postmortem by headspace gas chromatography.

Abstract

The postmortem concentrations of formic acid in the two patients were the following: 0.32 and 0.23 mg/mL in blood, 2.27 and 0.47 mg/mL in urine, 0.11 and 1.17 mg/g in the brain, 0.54 and 0.51 mg/g in the liver, and 0.13 and 1.19 mg/g in the kidneys. The total amounts of formic acid in the gastric contents were 108 and 23.2 mg. 1 table and 7 references (Author abstract)