Citation

Behera C, Chopra S, Garg A, Kumar R. Med. Leg. J. 2016; 84(2): 97-100.

Affiliation

Department of Forensic Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Medico-Legal Society, Publisher SAGE Publications)

DOI

10.1177/0025817216629857

PMID

26837566

Abstract

Corrosive acid ingestion is a rare but serious health hazard with fatal complications. Cases of suicidal and accidental acid ingestion have been documented in the scientific literature. Accidental acid poisoning due to a mistaken identity of the bottle containing sulphuric acid is a matter of grave concern especially in a household set-up. We hereby report a fatal case of accidental sulphuric acid ingestion in an adult, who unsuspectingly swallowed about 50 ml of 'toilet-cleaner' at his residence. The bottle containing the acid was recently purchased from a local vendor and placed with water bottles in the kitchen. The autopsy and toxicological findings of this case are discussed in this paper with discussion of medico-legal issues on the sale and use of such corrosive acids in illegal bottles and its subsequent health hazards in India.

Language: en