Universität zu Köln

Cortis, J., Bender, K., Rothschild, M. A. and Kamphausen, T. (2015). Lethal wood pellets. Carbon monoxide poisoning due to inappropriate storage. Rechtsmedizin, 25 (2). S. 101 - 107. NEW YORK: SPRINGER. ISSN 1434-5196

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Abstract

Carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning either accidental or as suicide, is a common cause of death encountered in routine medicolegal autopsies. It is less well known that CO can also be formed from the resin in wood fibers. Wood pellets emit the highest amount of CO in the weeks following production. Insufficient ventilation, particularly during storage of freshly made wood pellets in storage bunkers for heating devices, therefore leads to accumulation of dangerous concentrations of CO. This article aims to alert the readership to the dangers of CO poisoning resulting from inappropriate storage of wood pellets. The dangers are exemplified by the case of a 43-year-old man who was found dead in a storage room for wood pellets. The cause of death was CO poisoning due to a blood carboxyhemoglobin concentration of 75 %. The findings were compared with 14 further fatal cases of asphyxia involving wood pellets and wood products published in the literature for the time period 2002-2014. The first scientific investigations on this phenomenon were carried out particularly in the USA, Canada, Sweden and China as large-scale producers of wood pellets and were included in the assessment of the literature. The evaluation of the currently available literature showed that the dangers associated with the storage of wood pellets as a purportedly harmless source of energy are to a large extent unappreciated and have already led to fatal accidents. Under this aspect it is conspicuous that due to the expansion of the market into private dwellings, private users have also suffered fatal accidents so that an official risk assessment with a clear and uniform identification of hazards appears to be necessary. The public awareness of the dangers resulting from the storage of wood pellets must be increased. Official, uniform danger markings and recommendations for handling (e.g. only entering a pellet bunker with a CO detection warning device and/or breathing mask) should be made public in order to avoid fatal accidents by CO poisoning.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Cortis, J. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Bender, K. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Rothschild, M. A. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Kamphausen, T. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-408212
DOI:	10.1007/s00194-014-0980-3
Journal or Publication Title:	Rechtsmedizin
Volume:	25
Number:	2
Page Range:	S. 101 - 107
Date:	2015
Publisher:	SPRINGER
Place of Publication:	NEW YORK
ISSN:	1434-5196
Language:	German
Faculty:	Unspecified
Divisions:	Unspecified
Subjects:	no entry
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language OFF-GAS EMISSIONS; OXYGEN DEPLETION; TRANSPORTATION; HEADSPACE; KINETICS; LIPIDS Multiple languages Medicine, Legal Multiple languages
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/40821