Cyanide Distribution in Human Tissue, Determined by GC/ECD/HS

Abstract Cyanide is an important acute poison in forensic sciences. Cyanide determination is in general performed in a blood sample. We have developed a gas chromatography procedure with electron capture detector and headspace equipment (GC/ECD/HS) for the detection of cyanide and studied cyanide distribution in various tissues in the human body, such as blood, liver, kidney, brain, urine, and stomach content. Furthermore, in a rabbit animal model, cyanide tissue distribution is determined using the developed method. A calibration curve is constructed between 0.2–3 µg/mL, R2 = 0.9958. Linearity is lost above 3 µg/mL. The average recovery is 84.6% (n = 8, RSD 6.39%), calculated from standard addition. The limit of detection is 0.5 ng/mL, calculated from 3 times the signal/noise signal. In humans, low cyanide concentrations (<1 µg/mL) are observed in liver and urine, making these tissues less interesting for cyanide determination. In the rabbit animal model, tissue cyanide concentrations increase with increasing cyanide administration. A large intertissue variation is observed, with high cyanide concentration in blood, spleen, and stomach content. Spleen tissue can offer a valuable alternative for diagnosing cyanide intoxication in the absence of blood due to comparable spleen tissue concentration to blood concentration.