Death due to malathion poisoning

Malathion is a commonly available insecticide with relatively low toxicity. A study was undertaken in South Australia over a 20-year period to assess the characteristic features of deaths associated with malathion. A total of 5 cases were found, in each of which exposure to malathion had been intentional. The male to female ratio was 2:3 with an age range of 32 to 80 years (mean = 57 yr). In four cases malathion had been ingested and in one case death had resulted from an intravenous injection of insecticide. Ingestion of large volumes of malathion was associated with contamination of the mortuary due to postmortem regurgitation in at least one case. The study also demonstrates that suicides due to malathion poisoning were uncommon in thispopulation, representing only 0.2% of the 3,202 suicides recorded at the Forensic Science Centre over the 20year period.