Two fatalities from ingestion of acetonitrile: limited specificity of analysis by headspace gas chromatography.

A married couple was found dead in bed at their home, and the police investigation indicated that they might have ingested methanol and/or ethanol the previous evening. Postmortem examinations were performed and samples of femoral vein blood, urine, and stomach contents were submitted for toxicological analysis. Headspace gas chromatography (HSGC) using two different column packings (Carbopak B and Carbopak C) was used for qualitative and quantitative analysis of organic volatile substances. The apparent concentrations of ethanol in blood and urine were 0.20 and 0.27 g% w/v, respectively. On reanalysis of body fluids by another HSGC method and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS), the presence of ethanol was not confirmed. Instead, acetonitrile was identified at concentrations of 0.8 g/L in blood, 1.0 g/L in urine, and 1.3 g/L in stomach contents. Inorganic cyanide, the toxic metabolite of acetonitrile, was identified in blood from both victims at concentrations of 2.4 micrograms/g (female) and 4.5 micrograms/g (male). Despite the use of two different column packing materials for HSGC, acetonitrile was mistakenly identified as ethanol.