TY - JOUR
T1 - Suicidal Carbon Monoxide Poisoning by Formic and Sulfuric Acids
AU - Kreutz, Kasey
AU - Danielsen, Travis
AU - Quinton, Reade A
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 The Authors.
PY - 2019/9/1
Y1 - 2019/9/1
N2 - In 1987, a case report was published in the German journal Archiv für Kriminologie describing an apparently novel method of suicide in which the decedent produced a lethal amount of carbon monoxide by mixing formic acid and sulfuric acid. This method of chemical suicide remained obscure until 2003, when Dr. Philip Nitschke, a vocal supporter of assisted suicide, began promoting a homemade carbon monoxide generator which utilized this same chemical reaction. In 2006, he coauthored The Peaceful Pill Handbook, which provided further details about how the device worked. Pro-voluntary euthanasia organizations and online forums continue to provide information about this method, promoting it as painless and efficient. There have been nine case reports of suicides and attempted suicides using this chemical reaction, with five reported in Europe, three in the United States, and one in Taiwan. Two additional cases were reported in news articles that did not correspond to known case reports, indicating that this method of suicide is more common than the scientific literature would suggest. We present the case of a 44-year-old male who learned about this method of chemical suicide online and filmed the suicidal act while verbally recording carbon monoxide levels prior to losing consciousness.
AB - In 1987, a case report was published in the German journal Archiv für Kriminologie describing an apparently novel method of suicide in which the decedent produced a lethal amount of carbon monoxide by mixing formic acid and sulfuric acid. This method of chemical suicide remained obscure until 2003, when Dr. Philip Nitschke, a vocal supporter of assisted suicide, began promoting a homemade carbon monoxide generator which utilized this same chemical reaction. In 2006, he coauthored The Peaceful Pill Handbook, which provided further details about how the device worked. Pro-voluntary euthanasia organizations and online forums continue to provide information about this method, promoting it as painless and efficient. There have been nine case reports of suicides and attempted suicides using this chemical reaction, with five reported in Europe, three in the United States, and one in Taiwan. Two additional cases were reported in news articles that did not correspond to known case reports, indicating that this method of suicide is more common than the scientific literature would suggest. We present the case of a 44-year-old male who learned about this method of chemical suicide online and filmed the suicidal act while verbally recording carbon monoxide levels prior to losing consciousness.
KW - Carbon monoxide poisoning
KW - Chemical suicide
KW - Forensic pathology
KW - Formic acid
KW - Sulfuric acid
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U2 - 10.1177/1925362119891703
DO - 10.1177/1925362119891703
M3 - Article
C2 - 32110257
AN - SCOPUS:85078916748
SN - 1925-3621
VL - 9
SP - 217
EP - 224
JO - Academic Forensic Pathology
JF - Academic Forensic Pathology
IS - 3-4
ER -