Suicidal sodium azide ingestion.

Sodium azide (NaN3) is a highly reactive, toxic, widely used chemical. Although industrial exposure is common, fatal ingestion is rare. We describe the case of a 30-year-old man who ingested 15 to 20 g of sodium azide. He became comatose within two hours and eventually expired from a combination of acidosis, respiratory depression, and ventricular fibrillation. In sufficient doses, sodium azide is rapidly fatal and there is no effective treatment.