ABSTRACT
Fifty-three percent of patients injured in accidental falls in the evening in Helsinki and 15% of time-, site- and sex-matched control pedestrians were alcohol-involved. Relative risk of injury, if 1.0 at zero BAC, was 3 at BACS 60-100 mg/100 ml, 10 at 101-150 mg/100 ml and about 60 at BACS above that.
Subject(s)
Accident Proneness , Alcohol Drinking , Wounds and Injuries/etiology , Adolescent , Adult , Alcoholic Intoxication/blood , Ethanol/blood , Female , Humans , Male , RiskSubject(s)
Cyanides/poisoning , Forensic Medicine , Gold/analysis , Suicide , Adult , Alcoholism/complications , Autopsy , Cyanides/analysis , Female , Gold/poisoning , Humans , Nitrates/analysis , Potassium/analysis , Spectrum AnalysisABSTRACT
Anileridine and pethidine were established by gas and thin layer chromatography and mass spectroscopy. In the mass spectrum the main peak of anileridine is found at m/e 246 and that of pethidine at m/e 71. The determination was made by gas chromatography from the blood, urine, liver, muscle and stomach contents.
Subject(s)
Isonipecotic Acids/poisoning , Meperidine/poisoning , Chromatography, Gas , Chromatography, Thin Layer , Finland , Forensic Medicine , Isonipecotic Acids/analysis , Mass Spectrometry , Meperidine/analysisABSTRACT
A combined thin layer and gas chromatography system was developed for qualitative and quantitative analysis of drugs in biological samples after extraction with heptane-isoamyl alcohol. Both acidic and basic extraction procedures were used. Special methods were used for the extraction and detection of salicylates, isoniazid, and morphine. Particular attention was given to the detection of psychostimulants; though these drugs have seldom been found in drinking drivers in Finland they are commonly found in Sweden. Two percent of all suspected drinking drivers were also suspected of concommitant drug use, which led to primary sampling of urine. Of 100 such drivers, 24 had blood alcohol levels (BALs) which were negative and 18 of that 24 had drugs in their sample. Seventy-six of the 100 had positive BALs and 25 of the 76 had drugs in their samples. Of the randomly chosen 100 suspected drinking drivers, 5 had drugs in their samples, and 4 of these 5 had positive BALs. The benzodiazeomes were the most commonly detected drugs. No stimulants were found in our subjects.
Subject(s)
Alcoholic Intoxication , Automobile Driving , Pharmaceutical Preparations/urine , Adult , Anti-Anxiety Agents/urine , Benzodiazepines , Chromatography, Gas , Chromatography, Thin Layer , Ethanol/blood , Female , Finland , Forensic Medicine , Humans , Male , Methods , Middle AgedABSTRACT
Serum samples from 201 drivers who presented at emergency departments within six hours after being injured in a road accident and 325 control drivers selected randomly at petrol stations were screened for drugs by combined thin-layer and gas chromatography. Blood alcohol concentrations were also measured, and a questionnaire on the subjects' state of health and use of drugs administered. At interview 30 patients (15%) and 44 controls (13%) said that they had taken drugs in the previous 24 hours. Four patients (2%) and six controls (2%) said that they had taken psychotropic drugs, but serum analysis detected psychotropic drugs in 10 patients (5%) and eight controls (2.5%). Diazepam was found in 16 of the 18 subjects in whom psychotropic drugs were detected. Alcohol was detected in 30 patients (15%) and three controls (1%). Drug use appeared to be somewhat lower in Finland than in other Western countries, and illness to be a more important traffic hazard than drugs in general. Interview was not a reliable method of establishing whether drivers had taken psychotropic drugs. Taking diazepam may increase the risk of being involved in a traffic accident, but alcohol was the most powerful risk factor.