Abstract
This paper demonstrates that blowfly larval development is slightly impacted by paracetamol if present in the rearing foodstuff particularly during days 2–4 of development. Since paracetamol and similar analgesic drugs are involved in a large number of overdose deaths each year this information is of importance where blowfly growth is used to estimate the minimum postmortem interval.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Gagliano-Candela R, Aventaggiato L (2001) The detection of toxic substances in entomological specimens. Int J Legal Med 114:197–203
Goff ML, Lord WL (2001) Entomotoxicology: insects as toxicological indicators and the impact of drugs and toxins on insect development. In: Byrd JH, Caster JL (eds) Forensic entomology. CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp 331–340
Goff ML, Omori AI, Goodbrod JR (1989) Effect of cocaine in tissues on the rate of development of Boettcherisca peregrina (Diptera: Sarchophagidae). J Med Entomol 26:91–93
Goff ML, Brown WA, Hewadikaram KA, Omori AI (1991) Effects of heroin in decomposing tissues on the development rate Boettcherisca peregrina (Diptera: Sarchophagidae) and implications of this effect on estimations of postmortem intervals using arthropod development patterns. J Forensic Sci 36:537–542
Goff ML, Brown WA, Amori II, La Pointe DA (1993) Preliminary observations of the effects of amitriptyline in decomposing tissues on the development of Parasarcophaga ruficornis (Diptera: Sarcophagidae) and implications of this effect to estimation of postmortem interval. J Forensic Sci 38:316–322
Introna F, LoDico C, Caplan YH, Smialek JE (1990) Opiate analysis in cadaveric blowfly larvae as an indicator of narcotic intoxication. J Forensic Sci 35:118–122
Introna F, Campobasso CP, Goff ML (2001) Entomotoxicology. Forensic Sci Int 120:42–47
Kaneshrajah G, Turner B (2004) Calliphora vicina larvae grow at different rates on different body tissues. Int J Legal Med 117: DOI 10.1007.s00414-004-0444-5
Office of National Statistics (2002) National Statistics Online http://www.statistics.gov.uk
Pien K, Pipeleers-Marichal M, Grootaert P et al. (2003) Toxicological data and growth characteristics of single post-feeding larvae and puparia of Calliphora vicina (Diptera: Calliphoridae) obtained from a controlled nordiazepam study. Int J Legal Med 117: DOI 10.1007.s00414-004-0441-8
Sadler D, Robertson L, Fuke C, Pounder DJ (1997) Barbiturates and analgesics in Calliphora vicina larvae. J Forensic Sci 42:481–485
Wells JD, LaMotte LR (1995) estimating maggot age from weight using inverse prediction. J Forensic Sci 40:585–590
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
O’Brien, C., Turner, B. Impact of paracetamol on Calliphora vicina larval development. Int J Legal Med 118, 188–189 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-004-0440-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-004-0440-9