• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.263-271
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• 2010

Objectives : The records of 447 pesticide poisoning deaths from the National Forensic Service (NFS) headquarters located in Seoul of Korea from 2005 to 2009 were retrospectively reviewed. Methods : The data of each case were analyzed by using the SPSS program. Results : The mean age was $57.8{\pm}14.8$ years and the range was 16-92 years. The numbers of deaths of males and females were 301 and 134, respectively. The largest number of cases occurred in people aged 50-59 years (n=92, 20.6%) followed by the age groups 40-49 years (n=91, 20.4%), 60-69 years (n=88, 19.7%), and 70-79 years (n=75, 16.8%). The total number of deaths among other age groups (10-19, 20-29, 30-39, 80-89, and 90-99 years) was 73, representing only 16.3%. Of all pesticide poisoning deaths, 96.2% were due to suicide, and 28.4% of the total number who died received medical treatment. The mostfrequent site of ingestion was the person's own residence (n=279, 62.4%). The most common classes of pesticide were bipyridylium herbicide (paraquat, 31.1%), organophosphate insecticide (21.7%), and carbamate insecticide (15.4%). The major pesticides having a high proportion of fatalities were paraquat (31.1%), methomyl (11.4%), glyphosate (9.1%), dichlorvos (5.6%), phosphamidon (4.6%), and methidathion (4.0%). Conclusions : This study showed that poisoning deaths due to pesticides are one of the major public health problems in Korea. Enforcement of regulations and safety education to prevent pesticide poisoning should be carried out by the government.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.57 no.6
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• pp.420-425
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• 2013

Phentermine (PT) and phenmetrazine (PM) have been widely used as anti-obesity drugs. These drugs should be used with caution due to its close relation to amphetamine in its structure and toxicity. PT and PM, amphetamine-type anorectics, have recently been considered as alternatives for methamphetamine abuse in Korea. In addition, the misuse and abuse of PT and PM obtained by illegal sources such as the internet become a serious social problem. In the present study, a simultaneous detection and quantification method for determining PT and PM in human urine was developed and validated according to the international guidelines. The urine samples were screened using a fluorescence polarization immunooassay and analyzed by gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) after extraction using automatic solid phase extraction (SPE) with a mixed-mode cation exchange cartridge and derivatization with pentafluoropropionic anhydride (PFPA). The validation results for selectivity, linearity, limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ), intra- and inter-assay precision and accuracy and recovery were satisfactory. The validated method was successfully applied to authentic urine samples collected from 38 drug abuse suspects. PT and/or PM were identified with or without methamphetamine in urine samples. Abuse of PT and PM have increased continuously in Korea, therefore, closer supervision of the inappropriate use of anoretics is necessary.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.70-76
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• 2012

This paper deal with vehicle fire caused by damage of diesel particulate filter (DPF) on diesel passenger vehicles. In order to reduce particulate matters included exhaust gases, a DPF in the exhaust system were installed diesel vehicles. A DPF was broken by excessively trapped particulate matters, regeneration error with a malfunction of ECU and defect of suction system such as swirl valve. If the DPF was broken, hot exhaust gases was released to the bottom of vehicle and released hot exhaust gases lead to occur the fire through combustible materials around the exhaust system. When a fire happened in the diesel vehicle caused by damage of DPF, silicate inorganic compounds were attached to the exhaust ventilation pipe and muffler. The silicate inorganic compounds were created by DPF combustion consisting of raw material ceramics. If the silicate inorganic compounds attached to the tail pipe in the diesel passenger vehicles, its fire cause will be assumed damage of DPF.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.80-88
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• 2023

Fingerprints play a crucial role in the identification of potential suspects in criminal cases. However, determining the actual time, i.e., the time at which the fingermark was deposited, is challenging. Herein, we investigated the persistence and aging of fingerprints over time by observing the time evolution of latent fingerprints on a polystyrene box stored in a dark room. Fingerprint samples that were stored for up to two years could be detected with maximum accuracy using a black iron-oxide-based emulsion (black emulsion). To estimate the time of fingerprint deposition, fingerprint aging was studied by analyzing the lipid components of the fingerprints after their development. Cholesterol and squalene were selected as indicators of fingerprint aging, and their ratio was estimated to assess aging. In the case of fingerprint samples stored in a dark room for up to one month after deposition, the cholesterol/squalene ratio was approximately 0.01; it increased gradually to ≥ 0.1 over six months. A substantial reduction in the levels of cholesterol and squalene from the initial levels was also noted. Cholesterol and squalene were not detected after one year of storage. Thus, the extent of aging could be determined by analyzing the aging indicators for up to six months. Two cases that could cause error in the estimation of the fingerprint deposition time, namely, heating of the fingerprint sample before development and storage of the developed fingerprints in a dark room, were also investigated.

• The Korean Journal of Legal Medicine
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.111-125
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• 2018

Statistical analysis was performed on national forensic autopsy data collected in the Republic of Korea, with the exception of Ulsan, during 2017. A total of 8,777 cases were categorized based on the region; information was provided by the Police Agency and the Coast Guard regarding sex, age, manner of death, and cause of death. Analysis of the manner of death revealed that 3,971 cases (45.2%) were unnatural deaths, 3,679 cases (41.9%) were natural deaths, and 1,127 cases (12.8%) were unknown deaths. Among the unnatural deaths, the majority of the cases (1,740 cases, 43.8%) were accidents, 1,316 cases (33.1%) were suicide, 385 cases (9.7%) were homicide, and 530 cases (13.3%) were undetermined deaths. Among the unnatural deaths, the majority of the cases (1,575 cases, 39.7%) were trauma, followed by 793 cases (20.0%) of poisoning and 689 cases (17.4%) of asphyxia. Falling down was the major cause of death by trauma (737 cases, 46.8%). As a result of the classification of asphyxia based on previous study, strangulation was the major cause, with 538 cases (78.1%). Among the natural deaths, heart disease was the major cause (1,790 cases, 48.7%), followed by vascular disease (697 cases, 18.9%).

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.245-255
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• 2013

Identification of paint on victim's clothing and a vehicle are valuable for forensic examination when investigating hit-and-run accidents. Automotive paints on clothes are used to prove a victim caused by traffic accident and to identify a suspected vehicle. The comparison of transferred paints between victim's vehicle and suspected vehicle can be an important evidence in reconstructing the accident situation and in discovering the truth. The paints such as white, yellow, red, blue, or black are hard to examine particle shape under a stereomicroscope because of it is not included aluminum, pearl, and mica flakes in the pigments. The aim of this study under forensic aspect is to compare pigment among basecoat layers of solid paints by identifying inorganic elemental compositions and binder resins of pigments using by micro-FT-IR and micro-XRF spectrometer. The pigment samples were analyzed by using two methods of FT-IR: Reflectance and ATR method. Two methods of FT-IR were useful in discriminating binder resins of pigments by comparing characteristic peaks and patterns of spectra. Also, XRF spectrometer could identify the elemental compositions in inorganic pigments of trace paints which are difficult to compare the identification by FT-IR.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 2013

In this paper, the finite element analysis using ADINA has performed to investigate an accident that a man's head was damaged by the falling object. The simulation condition has defined by the point of forensic medicine view and the CCTV image analysis. From the CCTV image analysis, we expected that the sphere diameter of object is 15cm and object color is white. Assuming the falling mass is the ice mass, the results of the ADINA simulation show that a man's head can be broken by the falling ice mass.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.121-127
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• 2019

This study examined a fire accident caused by a defect in the vehicle ABS module. A large number of vehicles using the same manufacturer's ABS module in recent fire events showed a tendency to combust due to the same faults. As previously stated in the ABS module which shows the electrical breakdown between the power lines supplied to the constant power source by the battery. The electrical breakdown of the ABS module was caused by defects of the ABS module itself that were influenced by of the external flame. These results highlight the need to determine if there is a deficiency of the ABS module in the investigation of the cause of a fire in a vehicle which is produced by the same manufacturer.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.11-17
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• 2013

Forensic Engineering is the area covering the investigation of products, structures that fail to perform or do not function as intended, causing personal injury or damage to property. To investigate the mobile crane's overturn accident in terms of the forensic engineering, in this study, we identified the accident mobile crane's position and posture before accident by the analysis of the trace resulted by the contact between the outrigger and the ground, and the accident remodeling has been performed using CATIA modeling program in the basis of the accident mobile crane's position and posture information. The accident analysis has been performed by comparing this accident remodeling and the crane's specification, the table of the allowance load about the boom's length and the working radius. Through these studies, the safety accident that may occur in mobile crane can be minimized by performing specialized and systematic investigation of the accident cause in terms of the forensic engineering.

• The Korean Journal of Legal Medicine
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.146-152
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• 2018

We investigated the neural correlates of accurate eyewitness memory retrieval using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. We analyzed oxygenated hemoglobin ($HbO_2$) concentration in the prefrontal cortex during eyewitness memory retrieval task and examined regional $HbO_2$ differences between observed objects (target) and unobserved objects (lure). We found that target objects elicited increased activation in the bilateral ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, which is known for monitoring retrieval processing via bottom-up attentional processing. Our results suggest bottom-up attentional mechanisms could be different during accurate eyewitness memory retrieval. These findings indicate that investigating retrieval mechanisms using functional near-infrared spectroscopy might be useful for establishing an accurate eyewitness recognition model.