Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Forensic Toxicology https://doi.org/10.1007/s11419-018-0435-8 CASE REPORT Fatal intoxication with 1,1‑difuoroethane (DFE) due to inhalation of a spray cleaner: analysis by GC–MS Suguru Torimitsu 1,2  · Yusuke Fujii 1  · Kanju Saka 1  · Hiroko Abe 2  · Yohsuke Makino 1,2  · Fumiko Chiba 1,2  · Hirotaro Iwase 1,2 Received: 6 May 2018 / Accepted: 22 July 2018 © Japanese Association of Forensic Toxicology and Springer Japan KK, part of Springer Nature 2018 Abstract Purpose Animal studies suggested that halogenated hydrocarbons such as 1,1-difuoroethane (DFE) sensitized myocardial tissues to catecholamines and might cause fatal arrhythmia. In this paper, we report a case of a fatality that was associated with DFE abuse, and quantifed DFE concentrations in postmortem specimens using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Methods Femoral vein blood, cardiac blood, and urine samples were taken from the autopsy for toxicological analysis. We have established a detailed procedure for quantifcation of DFE in human blood and urine by GC–MS and have presented its validation data. Results The concentrations of DFE in this case were 481, 591 and 201 µg/mL in femoral vein blood, cardiac blood and urine samples, respectively, which were much higher than those in previous cases measured by gas chromatography–fame ionization detection. Thus, in the absence of other remarkable autopsy fndings, the cause of death was determined to be DFE intoxication. Conclusions To the best of our knowledge, this is the frst case report of quantifcation of DFE in human blood and urine specimens by GC–MS. Keywords 1,1-Difuoroethane (DFE) · Fatal autopsy case · Human blood and urine · Fatal intoxication · Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry Introduction 1,1-Difuoroethane (DFE) is a halogenated hydrocarbon, known as HFC-152a that is commonly used as a propel- lant in aerosolized products, such as keyboard cleaners [1]. However, it may be a substance of abuse, because of its inha- lation-induced euphoria [2, 3]. It is known that intentional inhalation of DFE can cause symptoms, such as confusion, tremors, pulmonary irritation, and coma [4]. In addition, ani- mal studies suggested that halogenated hydrocarbons such as DFE sensitized myocardial tissues to catecholamines and might cause fatal arrhythmia [3, 5]. However, there are a limited number of forensic studies regarding postmortem fatal tissue concentrations of DFE [2, 3, 6, 7]. The anal- ysis of inhaled substances of abuse poses a challenge for forensic investigation, because of their high volatility, short half-life, and rapid elimination [1]. In this case study, we report a fatality that was associated with DFE abuse and determined concentrations of DFE in postmortem femoral vein blood, cardiac blood, and urine samples using gas chro- matography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). This is the frst case report to quantify DFE concentrations in human blood and urine specimens using GC–MS; in the previous reports [3, 6, 7], gas chromatography–fame ionization detection (GC–FID) was exclusively used for quantifcation. * Suguru Torimitsu torimitsu-tky@umin.ac.jp 1 Department of Forensic Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan 2 Department of Legal Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuo-ku, Chiba 260-8670, Japan