Prominent researcher killed her ex-husband with Ethylene Glycol

Dear readers, welcome to my second blog post, devoted to the uses of ethylene glycol and its toxic properties. By the end of the blog, you will know:

•  What is ethylene glycol and its properties?
•  What are the uses of ethylene glycol?
•  Why is it toxic?
•   What are the symptoms of intoxication?

According to the news, on 29^th of September high-profile cancer researcher Ana Gonzalez-Angulo was sentenced to 10 years for poisoning her ex-husband with ethylene glycol. As prisoner confirms she alloyed automotive antifreeze to his coffee, which resulted in the breakdown of kidney function and has led to death. One of the main components of freezing liquid in cars is ethylene glycol.

What is ethylene glycol and its properties?

Ethylene glycol is a chemical. It is a liquid at a room temperature, without any odor or color, has a sweet taste. It belongs to the class of organic compounds, called alcohols. Organic compounds are those that consist mostly of hydrogen and carbon atoms. Alcohols are compounds that contain carbon and hydrogen along with the oxygen. The most popular representative of alcohols is ethanol. Below are structures of ethanol and ethylene glycol, they have similar chemical properties.

Figure 1.Structure of ethanol.
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Figure 2. Structure of ethylene glycol.
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What are the uses of ethylene glycol?

Ethylene glycol is widely used in daily life. As it was already mentioned, it is the main component of automotive antifreeze. 

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Antifreeze is the liquid, which is used to protect cars from overheating at hot days, and prevents the freezing of motor on cold winter days. Ethylene glycol is in our clothes, cosmetics, pens, plastics, paints, bottles and even in shopping bags.

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 Ethylene glycol has such a wide range of applications because when molecules combine with each other, they can form very long chains, which are called polymers, or fibers. These fibers are easy to manipulate, they can be assigned in various shapes. For example, one of the well-known polymers is polyethylene, which is used to produce polyethylene bags, or just shopping bags.

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However, ethylene glycol can also be used with harmful purposes, as a chemical weapon, due to its high toxicity.

Why is it toxic?

There is a whole cycle, involving break down of ethylene glycol molecule. The function of liver is breaking down molecules to produce energy, all of the blood in body passes through liver to kidneys, which filtrates it. In liver, massive molecules of ethylene glycol are decomposed into smaller molecules, including toxins. Toxins are poisonous substances released by an organism. Blood contaminated with toxins goes to the kidney and disturbs its regular functioning.

Let us think of an analogy for better understanding of this process. For example, imagine a war, when foreign army (ethylene glycol molecules) invades a country. The local army tries to defeat the enemy, but instead of destroying the invaders, they only split up enemy forces (formation of toxins). These separated parts of the army begin to attack the country on several battlefields and crashes the opponent. Consequently, when the war is lost, country is destroyed and cannot exist anymore.

Intoxication is very complicated process, and due to the word limit it cannot be described more deeply, you can find more information here.

Symptoms of poisoning:

• First of all, ethylene glycol gives the same effect as after drinking ethanol (alcohol), light ebriosity
• Few hours later, others symptoms including nausea, vomiting, convulsions will appear
• Finally, it can lead to the coma, organ failure and death

       To sum up, now you are aware of the properties of ethylene glycol, how it is used in real life and warning signs of intoxication.

       

      References

"An introduction to alcohols." an introduction to       alcohols.http://www.chemguide.co.uk/organicprops/alcohols/back.. (accessed October 9, 2014).

     

     Banerjee, Trina. "Ethylene glycol poisoning." Ethylene glycol poisoning.http://medicine.med.nyu.edu/nephrology/files/med_neph.. (accessed October 9, 2014).

     Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "ETHYLENE GLYCOL: systemic agent." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/ershdb/EmergencyResponseCard.. (accessed October 8, 2014).

"    Common menu bar links." Ethylene glycol.http://www.chemicalsubstanceschimiques.gc.ca/fact-fai.. (accessed October 8, 2014).

Farlex. "Toxins." The Free Dictionary.http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Toxins (accessed October 9, 2014).

"    Researcher imprisoned for poisoning ex-lover." RSC RSS.http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/2014/10/researcher-.. (accessed October 9, 2014).

     U.S. National Library of Medicine. "Ethylene glycol intoxication: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia." U.S National Library of Medicine.http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/00077.. (accessed October 8, 2014).

"What is Ethylene Glycol?." What is Ethylene Glycol?.http://www.americanchemistry.com/ProductsTechnology/E.. (accessed October 8, 2014).