Environmental contaminants in human fat: a comparison between accidental and nonaccidental causes of death

A total of 29 human adipose tissue samples from autopsies of nonaccidental death victims from across Canada were analyzed for polychlorinated biphenyls and organochlorine pesticides. The residue levels of nonaccidental death victims were compared to those obtained earlier for samples of accidental death victims, collected during the same time period. A statistically significant difference was observed for hexachloro-1,3-butadiene (P less than 0.005) between the two sampling procedures. No statistically significant differences were found for other residues, although residue levels of hexachlorobenzene and p,p'-DDE were numerically higher in nonaccident than accident victims. Samples of nonaccidental deaths were subdivided into "sudden" and "other" death groups. Residue levels according to sex were statistically not related to the cause of death, although numerically the average p,p'-DDE level in male adipose tissue was higher in the "other" than "sudden" death group. The average p,p'-DDT levels in female adipose tissue of nonaccident victims were numerically at least twice those of accident victims, but were not statistically different.