Plastic bag suffocation as a method of suicide has been reported before but still remains unusual [
In February 2002 in Athens, Greece, a 49-year-old male merchant was found by his wife in his office, sitting on his desk with a plastic garbage bag securely fastened around his neck. Inside the bag there was a folded small cleaning towel. Beside him, on the desk was a commercial 500-ml glass bottle of diethyl ether, containing 150 ml of the solvent. The air in the office had an intense smell of ether.
Autopsy showed prominent organ congestion and a remarkable pulmonary edema.
Toxicological analysis of the blood by head-space chromatography revealed the presence of diethyl ether, at a concentration of 127.7 mg/dl, and the absence of any drug or alcohol.
The histopathological examination of the lungs showed a picture of pulmonary edema and prominent congestion. The relevant examination of the liver showed only a congestion of a medium degree.
Apparently, the victim dumped ether on the towel and placed it inside the plastic bag before putting his head in it. He had no history of ether abuse or other substance abuse and he left no suicide note.
The concentration of ether in the blood (127.7 mg/dl) is within the concentrations achieved during surgical anesthesia (50-150 mg/dl) and close to the average concentration for deep surgical anesthesia (120 mg/dl) [
According to his wife's testimony, during the previous 10 days the victim was searching the Internet for hours, apparently trying to find a way to commit suicide. A Web site giving thorough advice to people who want to commit suicide [
The misuse of the Internet - and sometimes of the press, scientific or not - by people that commit suicide must be emphasized. Preventive measures concerning the spread of this kind of information, at a worldwide level, should be taken.