Detection and analysis of aminoparathion in human postmortem specimens.

Postmortem samples from two fatalities involving parathion ingestion were examined. Parathion could not be detected in the liver tissue but a significant quantity of a related compound was detected. This was shown to be aminoparathion, a biotransformation product of parathion. The substances were extracted with hexane and analyzed by gas-liquid chromatography on a 3% OV-210 column. Thin-layer chromatography and mass spectrometry were also performed. The transformation of parathion to aminoparathion in human tissue has not been previously reported.