Abstract
One of the recently evolving methods for cyanide determination in body fluids is GC-MS, following extractive alkylation with pentafluorobenzyl bromide or pentafluorobenzyl p-toluenesulfonate. The aim of this study was to improve previous GC methods by utilizing a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer, which could enhance selectivity and sensitivity allowing for the reliable confirmation of cyanide exposure in toxicological studies. Another purpose of this study was to facilitate a case investigation including a determination of cyanide in blood and to use the obtained data to confirm the ingestion of a substance, found together with a human corpse at the forensic scene. The blood samples were prepared following extractive alkylation with a phase transfer catalyst tetrabutylammonium sulfate and the PFB-Br derivatization agent. Optimal parameters for detection, including ionization type and multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) transitions had been investigated and then selected. The validation parameters for the above method were as follows—linear regression R2 = 0.9997 in the range of 0.1 µg/mL to 10 µg/mL; LOD = 24 ng/mL; LOQ = 80 ng/mL and an average recovery of extraction of 98%. Our study demonstrates the first attempt of cyanide determination in blood with gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The established method could be applied in forensic studies due to MS/MS confirmation of organic cyanide derivative and low matrix interferences owning to utilizing negative chemical ionization.
Highlights
Cyanogenic compounds in the toxic forms of hydrogen cyanide and its salts constitute a significant research task in the field of forensic toxicology
The aformentioned papers served as a fundament in developing a new improved technique and its successful application to toxicological assay that was demonstrated in our study
The helpful information was reported by Kudo et al in a method that included the solid phase extraction (SPE) step in sample preparation
Summary
Cyanogenic compounds in the toxic forms of hydrogen cyanide and its salts constitute a significant research task in the field of forensic toxicology. Being a highly bioavailable chemical, cyanide is absorbed through the skin and mucosa into the body fluids where it is further distributed to the tissues exerting its acute effects on the vital organ systems [1,2,3]. Since the organs with the greatest oxygen demand such as the brain and heart, are most sensitive to cyanide acting, manifestations of the poisoning are associated with the disorders of basic vital functions and occur rapidly after exposure [5,6]. Cyanide concentration reaches the saturation state of the detoxification pathways, resulting in a slowed metabolism to less toxic compounds such as thiocyanate. Irreversible hypoxia contributes to the steep doseresponse and impairing of neurological, cardiovascular, and respiratory functions [3,6,10]
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