The acute oral toxicity of propylene glycol is very low, and large quantities are required to cause perceptible health damage in humans.
By JOHN ANNESE
and MICHAEL SEDON
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- An 83-year-old man who died in his Charleston home last year is now being called a homicide victim after he took a fatal dose of a chemical found in antifreeze, the city medical examiner's office has ruled.
At first glance, Steven Mario Carnesi seemed to have died of natural causes on May 24. He had become ill, and was placed under hospice care at his 4223 Arthur Kill Road home with his wife and a nurse looking after him, according to multiple law enforcement sources.
And there may well have been no investigation into what killed him if not for suspicious family members at his wake, those sources said. Carnesi was being laid out at Colonial Funeral Home in New Dorp, and a family member "didn't like the way he looked," noted one NYPD source.
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MAP: Homicides on Staten Island in 2012
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So they called for an autopsy, and a medical examiner took tissue samples for a toxicology test, those sources said.
On Dec. 10, the medical examiner officially ruled his death a homicide by "propylene glycol intoxication."
A spokeswoman for the medical examiner's office would not comment on this case specifically, though she said that cause of death investigations often include going to crime scenes and interviewing family members and others.
Even so, some questions remain as to what dose of the substance would prove fatal. Industrial grade propylene glycol is found in de-icing fluid and antifreeze, but other grades of the substance can be found in food, cosmetics and medications.
Propylene glycol is often sold as a "non-toxic" alternative to poisonous ethylene glycol, the main ingredient in antifreeze. Propylene glycol is mildly sweet-tasting, but is not considered harmful to humans -- except in large doses, when it can be fatal. It has been used in a number of high-profile murders.
The chemical is also a common ingredient in liquid detergents, paints and inks, but it could cause metabolic abnormalities and even death if ingested in "very high amounts," according to Sam Miller, assistant commissioner for public affairs with the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
Toxicity has occurred with high doses of intravenous medications that use it as a solvent, Miller said in an e-mail to the Advance.
On May 21, three days before his death, Carnesi's wife, Pamela Carnesi, 54, posted the following to her public Facebook.com profile: "My husband of over 30 years is dying. I have hospice 16 hours day. So many people comin & goin, but I dont feel like its real, as if I'm not really here I feel so alone. God, I miss my mother!!"
And on Sept. 14, she posted: "I am now the proud owner of The Foxhole Mobile Home Park. Thank you, my wonderful husband, for everything. Love, your wife." She posted a picture of the business on Sept. 25.
Public records show Carnesi bought the property at 4223 Arthur Kill Rd. in 1996 for $60,000. His wife sold it to Clarendon Realty Holdings on Aug. 4 for $840,000.
The house sits near the edge of a 20,500 square foot parcel of property, adjacent to the Charleston Cemetery and a two-building commercial complex with offices, an auto-detailing shop and a recently opened knife-grinding business.
Attempts to reach Carnesi's wife in Florida were unsuccessful.
A man who answered her phone and identified himself as Tommy Donohue claimed to be the family's spokesperson -- he said Carnesi was under "around-the-clock hospice care," and noted that the entire family agreed to the autopsy at the request of his children, Steven and Kim Carnesi.
Carnesi's daughter declined to comment, and attempts to reach other family members were unsuccessful.
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Source: http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2013/01/staten_island_mans_death_was_m.html
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