Polychlorinated biphenyls and organochlorine pesticides in amniotic fluids of pregnant women in south-central Turkey

WOS: 000326309900008The concentrations of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were determined in amniotic fluid of 200 pregnant women from the Cukurova region of Turkey. The concentrations of OCPs [hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH), hexachlorobenzene (HCB), dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethane (p,p-DDT), and various metabolites], and different PCB congeners (28, 52, 101, 118, 138, 153, 180) were determined by gas chromatography with electron capture detection as follows: HCB 6.6 +/- 4.7, sigma HCH 21.6 +/- 14.2, sigma DDT 12.5 +/- 7.5, and sigma PCBs 74.0 +/- 54ng mL(-1). Correlations of maternal or gestational age and levels of OCPs and PCBs were not significant. The levels of these organochlorine compounds (OCs) were below detection limit for 5% of the samples, 80% contained more than one OC. This study illustrates that prenatal exposure of a fetus to OCs is prevalent in the Cukurova region.Cukurova University Research FoundationCukurova University [TF2011BAP6]Cukurova University Research Foundation provided the financial support for this work (Grant no: TF2011BAP6)

Evaluation of Cases Consulted to Forensic Toxicology Laboratory between 2008 and 2012

Purpose: In this study, we aimed to determine annual and seasonal distribution of cases and affecting factors of the distribution in Cukurova University Hospital, Forensic Toxicology Laboratory. Method: Five-year (up to 2012 from 2008) archives of cases consulted to our forensic toxicology laboratory was investigated and classified according to gender, situation of case, type of poisoning, seasonal distribution, findings were statistically evaluated by SPSS v20.0 software Results: After screening five-year archives using laboratory registration book, we determined that of 608 cases 49.5 % were from emergency medicine, 19.6 % from pediatric, 7.4 % from psychiatry, 4.4 % 4.4 from neurology, 2.3 % from other units of the hospital, 7.9 % from judicial authorities, 4.8 % from special requests and 6.1 % from circumjacent hospitals. 57.9 % of the cases are male and 42.1 % are female. 87.3 % of 608 cases were clinical cases, 7.9 % were forensic cases, 4.8 % special requests. 95.8 % of judicial cases were male and 85.4 % were drugs of abuse cases. 28.1 % of clinical cases were the carbon monoxide poisoning and 64.3 % of the carbon monoxide poisoning cases were female. Conclusion: When five-year data were evaluated, we determine that numbers of case are increasing every year. Males are more than in females. Forensic cases which were mostly drugs of abuse were most commonly have seen in male. When our data were investigated together with TUBIM’s data belong to 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 (Turkey Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drugs Addiction), the use of drug abuse were seen most commonly in male. Also carbon monoxide poisoning in clinical cases were evaluated and we see that Carbon monoxide intoxication in winter was more than in summer due to heating. Women who exposed to carbon monoxide were more than men to be much more at home according to men. [Cukurova Med J 2013; 38(4.000): 675-680

Padova Charter on personal injury and damage under civil-tort law: Medico-legal guidelines on methods of ascertainment and criteria of evaluation

Compensation for personal damage, defined as any pecuniary or non-pecuniary loss causally related to a personal injury under civil-tort law, is strictly based on the local jurisdiction and therefore varies significantly across the world. This manuscript presents the first ''International Guidelines on Medico-Legal Methods of Ascertainment and Criteria of Evaluation of Personal Injury and Damage under Civil-Tort Law''. This consensus document, which includes a step-by-step illustrated explanation of flow charts articulated in eight sequential steps and a comprehensive description of the ascertainment methodology and the criteria of evaluation, has been developed by an International Working Group composed of juridical and medico-legal experts and adopted as Guidelines by the International Academy of Legal Medicine (IALM)