Formation of semi-crystalline fraction, in which all diethylene glycol (DEG) is contained, during its extraction from human tissues: the probable cause of false negative results in fatal DEG poisoning cases

Abstract

Diethylene glycol (DEG) can be found in commercial products such as antifreeze, brake fluid, and lubricants. In addition, DEG has been found as a contaminant of raw materials in the production of pharmaceuticals. At least ten mass DEG poisoning events have occurred over the past 70 years. The first and largest outbreak, which resulted in 105 deaths, occurred in the United States in 1937. In 1967, a mass poisoning occurred in South Africa in which 7 children died. In 1992 in Argentina, 29 people died after consuming propolis syrups that contained high DEG concentrations; the drug was widely commercialized in Argentina to treat mild upper respiratory tract infections. Thereafter, pediatric medicinal syrups contaminated with DEG caused the deaths of 33 children in India in 1998, and 85 children in Haiti in 1995–1996. The most recent outbreak took place in Panama in 2006, in which more than 100 people died due to DEG poisoning. In spite of these repeated mass DEG poisonings, only a few analytical methods for DEG analysis, by gas chromatography (GC) and GC–mass spectrometry (MS), have been reported. There is a pressing need to establish and improve the methods for analysis of DEG, especially for postmortem human samples. As a result of our extensive experience in analysis of DEG in postmortem samples, we hereby report an important characteristic of DEG that we observed during sample extraction.