Interpretation of postmortem alcohol concentrations

Blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) are regularly used as evidence in criminal and civil litigation. The forensic toxicologist is frequently asked, during his routine work or during court testimony, to give an expert opinion on the question as to whether alcohol concentrations measured in postmortem blood represent alcohol ingested prior to death or were formed postmortem [1–4]. The interpretation may be critical to the thorough investigation of different kind of forensic cases, like driving under influence, homicides etc. When putrefaction has occurred, one must exercise extreme caution in interpreting alcohol levels obtained by analysis of such putrid samples. During the putrefactive process alcohol may be lost due to evaporation or produced by microbial activity, primarily on glucose and to a lesser extent on lactate, amino or fatty acids [5,6].