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ASPHYXIATION
A CASE STUDY ON CHILDREN SAFETY FROM PHYSICAL ASPHYXIATION
Case Narrative
A 10-year-old sister finds her 2-12-year-old brother dead inside an empty
toy chest. Apparently, the chest’s hinged wood lid was too heavy for him to
open. His death was ruled as physical asphyxiation from oxygen
insufficiency; however, the county medical examiner, during forensic
evaluations, was uncertain if this boy’s death was unintentional or
homicidal. She requests services of an industrial hygienist to determine
oxygen depletion profile over time inside the toy chest. The chest was
tightly sealed, so there was no air exchange while the boy was inside
The interior dimensions were 35" × 18" × 15"
The boy weighed 34 pounds naked
Assumptions:
Ambient concentration of oxygen was 20.95% (v/v).
Boy’s body density was 1.07 g/mL.
Oxygen consumption by boy was 0.13 L O2/minute.
Exposure was at, or near, sea level, say <1000 feet.
Nobody opened the lid while the boy was inside.
He had good health with no CO poisoning risk factors.
Analysis
PART- 01 :
Volume of Toy Chest Coffin = 35”x18”x15” = 9450 Cubic inches = 5.47 Cubic feet = 154.87 L
Weight of the boy = 34lbs ( given)
Weight of the boy = 15,422 gram
Boys Volume = 15422 / 1.07 = 14413 mL = 14.413 L
Net volume of toy chest with boy inside = 154.87 L – 14.413 L = 140.46 L
Volume of O2 when boy entered toy chest = 140.46 x 0.2095 = 29.43 L
Analysis
PART- 02 :