[Injection medicines: historical notes on their use and development, with special reference to Icelandic conditions]. / Brot úr sögu stungulyfja: Med sérstöku tilliti til íslenskra adstaedna.

The first reliable syringes and hollow needles for the injections of drugs subcutaneously, intramuscularily and intravenously or for other injections came into use shortly after 1850. As far is known, morphine was the first drug to be injected subcutaneously, using a syringe and a hollow needle. Use of injection medicines, especially containing morphine or other alkaloids, became widespread among European doctors in the latter half of the 19th century. The use of injection medicines began before the existence of infectious microbes or microorganisms in general had become common knowledge, or the equilibria of electrolytes in and around living cells had been understood. Thus, injection medicines, their production and procedures of use had to pass through lengthy development lasting nearly one hundred years, in order to reach the levels of quality standards now universally accepted. It was also a definite advancement when disposable syringes and needles came into general use around 1960. Accessibility to injection medicines and their use was seemingly on a low scale in Iceland until 1930 or thereabout. The production of injection medicines in Iceland began in substance in the fourth decade of the last century. The production was generic, following official formulas, and was based in several pharmacies and a few drug companies. Only two producers offered a sizeable assortment of drugs. The production gradually became concentrated in a few firms and was finally handled by only one international, locally based, generic drugs firm, where the domestic production of injection medicines ended shortly after 2000.

[Adulterated alcoholic beverages]. / Svikid áfengi.

Adulterated alcoholic beverages are legal alcoholic products that have been illicitly tampered with, for instance, by criminally diluting them with water, purposely putting them into new containers to conceal their true origin or adding toxic substances to manipulate the qualities of alcoholic beverages. The collection of cases at the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Iceland, which contains examples of each category of adulteration, is the basis of the present article. Especially noteworthy are cases involving the toxic substances methanol and/or ethylene glycol. Methanol has been added to legally produced wines to increase their "bite" and ethylene glycol to increase their sweetness. Adding these substances to wine has resulted in poisoning or death in other countries, but not in Iceland as far as is known.

[Mustard gas bombs found astray in the Faxaflói bay. Mustard gas: usage and poisonings]. / Sinnepsgassprengjur á afvegum í Faxaflóa. Sinnepsgas: notkun thess og eitranir.

The finding in 1972 of two World War II mustard gas artillery shells in crushed shell sediment dredged in the Faxaflói Bay and transported as raw material for cement production at Akranes (Western Iceland) is reported. One of the shells was wedged in a stone crusher in the raw material processing line and was ruptured. As a result dark fluid with a garlic like smell seeped out from the metal canister. The attending employees believed the metal object to be inert and tried to cut it out with a blow torch. This resulted in the explosion of the shell charge and in the exposure of four employees to mustard gas. All suffered burns on their hands and two of them in the eyes also. The second shell was detonated in the open at a distance from the factory. Emphasis is given to the fact that instant, or at least as soon as possible, cleansing and washing is the most efficient measure to be taken against the debilitating effects of mustard gas. It is also pointed out that the active principle in mustard gas (dichlorodiethyl sulphide) can easily be synthesized and none of the precursor substances are subjected to any restrictions of use. The authors conclude that mustard gas bombs may still be found in the arsenals of some military powers in spite of an international convention that prohibits the production, stockpiling and the use of chemical weapons. Terrorist groups have also seemingly tried to aquire mustard gas bombs and other chemical weapons. Therefore cases of mustard gas poisoning might still occur.