GASES AND VOLATILES IN POST-MORTEM TOXICOLOGY

Abstract

In post-mortem toxicology, gases and volatiles are related
to involuntary exposure (e.g. occupational and accidental)
and to voluntary exposure (e.g. suicides, volatile substance
abuse and crimes). There is a critical importance of the
quality of sampling but only few pitfalls in analyses (using
headspace gas chromatography-mass spectrometry).
Nevertheless, the routine interpretation of the results is limited and should be performed with caution.