Epidemiological study of carbon monoxide deaths in Scotland 2007–2016
File(s)JOFS-18-098.R1 Accepted.pdf (432.27 KB)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Forés Lisbona, Claudia
Hamnett, HJ
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Carbon monoxide (CO) intoxications are quite frequent in forensic toxicology. Using a sample of 209 CO‐positive deaths in Scotland from 2007 to 2016, this study provides ranges of percentage CO saturations (%COHb) according to the CO source and examines any correlation with age, gender, alcohol, and preexisting disease. It also reports the full toxicological findings, including drug concentrations, in CO‐positive cases. The highest numbers of fatalities involved males, occurred during autumn/winter, and the main source of CO was fire. The median %COHb in fire‐related cases was significantly lower than in non‐fire‐related cases such as those involving exhausts, generators and gas supply systems, and portable BBQs. There was no relationship between %COHb and age, blood alcohol concentration, or the presence of preexisting cardiovascular and/or respiratory disease. Toxicology results revealed that prescription medications were the most commonly detected drug group and that the number of cases positive for controlled drugs was small.
Date Issued
2018-11-01
Date Acceptance
2018-03-19
Citation
Journal of Forensic Sciences, 2018, 63 (6), pp.1776-1782
ISSN
0022-1198
Publisher
Wiley
Start Page
1776
End Page
1782
Journal / Book Title
Journal of Forensic Sciences
Volume
63
Issue
6
Copyright Statement
© 2018 American Academy of Forensic Sciences. All rights reserved. This is the pre-peer reviewed version of the following article: [insert full citation], which has been published in final form at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1556-4029.13790
Subjects
carbon monoxide
death
drugs
fire
forensic science
suicide
0399 Other Chemical Sciences
0699 Other Biological Sciences
1103 Clinical Sciences
Legal & Forensic Medicine
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2018-04-12