Determination of chloral hydrate and metabolites in a fatal intoxication

A young woman (32 years old) was found dead in her house. Screening of postmortem blood with enzyme multiplied immunoassay (EMIT) detected benzodiazepines, salicylic acid derivatives, and caffeine. These compounds were present in nontoxic concentrations as confirmed by thin-layer chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography. The Fujiwara-Ross reaction on blood revealed the presence of chlorinated hydrocarbons in high concentrations. An optimized gas chromatographic method with electron capture detection allowed the identification and quantitation of chloral hydrate and both its metabolites, 2,2,2-trichloroethanol and trichloroacetic acid, in the available postmortem samples. The tissue concentrations indicated that chloral hydrate ingestion could be identified as the cause of this fatality.