A FATAL DISASTER CASE-BASED ON EXPOSURE TO HYDROGEN-SULFIDE - AN ESTIMATION OF THE HYDROGEN-SULFIDE CONCENTRATION AT THE SCENE

Four adult men fell into an artificial lake which was being used to ra ise flatfish, after a water pipe had been connected to a tube allowing seawater to flow into the lake. Forensic autopsies were carried out o n three of the four men, who died soon after the incident. From autops y findings, the cause of death was diagnosed to be suffocation after a spirating seawater in the three victims. To clarify why the men fell i nto the lake, a chemical analysis for hydrogen sulfide was carried out using the extractive alkylation technique combined with gas chromatog raphy/mass spectrometry. The sulfide was detected as its derivative, b is(pentafluorobenzyl)sulfide, in body tissues taken from all the victi ms, and the concentration of hydrogen sulfide gas at the scene was est imated as having been nearly fatal.