Toxicologic studies in a fatal overdose of 2,4-D, mecoprop, and dicamba

A suicidal poisoning committed by a 61-year-old woman, who ingested an unknown quantity of Killex, containing in aqueous solution 100 g/L of (2,4-dichlorophenox)acetic acid (2,4-D), 50 g/L of mecoprop, and 9 g/L of dicamba as amine salts is described. Quantitation of chlorophenoxy acids was performed by extraction from an acidified mixture and concentration before high performance liquid chromatography analysis. All three herbicides were separated in a phosphate buffer/acetonitrile mixture at 280 nm on a RP-8 column. Concentrations of herbicides found were: in blood--520-mg/L 2,4-D, 530-mg/L mecoprop, and 170-mg/L dicamba; in urine--670-mg/L 2,4-D and 520-mg/L mecoprop; in bile--340-mg/L 2,4-D, 530-mg/L mecoprop, and 140-mg/L dicamba; and in liver--540-mg/Kg 2,4-D, 500-mg/Kg mecoprop, and less than 100-mg/Kg dicamba. Liquid chromatography was found to be a reliable method for herbicide quantitation in biological tissues and fluids. The technique offered definite advantages over ultraviolet spectrophotometry and avoids the derivatization requirement for gas chromatography.     

Dental Age Estimation: A Test of the Reliability of Correctly Identifying a Subject Over 18 Years of Age Using the Gold Standard of Chronological Age as the Comparator

This study was designed to test the reliability of using the third molars to demarcate between child and adult status. A total of 2000 dental panoramic tomographs were used for assessment of the calculated age using the 8‐stage system of tooth development and applied to all four third molars. The LL8 was also assessed using this 8‐stage system. For each tooth development stage, the Normal distribution and percentile summary data were estimated. The calculated dental age compared with the chronological age was statistically significantly different (p < 0.001) for both females and males giving underestimates of the true age. Comparison of single tooth dental age and chronological age was only slightly different. The most important finding is that the assignment to above or below the 18‐year threshold, in the age range 17 years to 19 years, could be wrong on up to 50% of occasions.