Suicide by self-injection of chlormequat trademark C5SUN®

Chlormequat is a quaternary ammonium used as plant growth regulating agent. We report here the first suicide case involving a 45 year-old farmer man who intentionally self-injected C5SUN (R), containing chlormequat and choline. An original liquid chromatography high resolution mass spectrometry method (LC-HR-MS), using a hybrid quadrupole-orbitrap mass spectrometer, was developed for qualitative and quantitative analysis of chlormequat in different biological matrices. Toxicological analyses of postmortem samples highlighted the presence of chlormequat in the blood (2.25 mg/L) and the urine (4.45 mg/L), in addition to ethanol impregnation blood (1.15 g/L). The route of administration (subcutaneous injection) was confirmed by the detection of chlormequat in the abdominal fat sample (chlormequat: 10.04 mg/g) taken from the traumatic injury location, as well as in the syringe found at the death scene, close to the victim's body. Based on the results of these post-mortem investigations, the cause of death was determined to be consecutive to cardiac dysrhythmia and cardiac arrest following chlormequat self-injection. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.