Citation

Sabino BD, Torraca TG, Moura CM, Rozenbaum HF, de Castro Faria MV. J. Forensic Sci. 2010; 55(3): 808-812.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, American Society for Testing and Materials, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1556-4029.2010.01340.x

PMID

20345797

Abstract

Foods contaminated with a granulated material similar to Temik (a commercial pesticide formulation containing the carbamate insecticide aldicarb) are often involved in accidental ingestion, suicides, and homicides in Brazil. We developed a simple technique to detect aldicarb. This technique is based on the inhibition of a stable preparation of the enzyme acetylcholinesterase, and it is specially adapted for forensic purposes. It comprises an initial extraction step with the solvent methylene chloride followed by a colorimetric acetylcholinesterase assay. We propose that results of testing contaminated forensic samples be expressed in aldicarb equivalents because, even though all other carbamates are also potent enzyme inhibitors, aldicarb is the contaminant most frequently found in forensic samples. This method is rapid (several samples can be run in a period of 2 h) and low cost. This method also proved to be precise and accurate, detecting concentrations as low as 40 microg/kg of aldicarb in meat samples.

Language: en

Keywords

Humans; Homicide; Suicide; Animals; Linear Models; Forensic Toxicology; Acetylcholinesterase; Cholinesterase Inhibitors; Specimen Handling; Aldicarb; Cattle; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Food Contamination; Meat Products