Japanese authorities have moved to crack down on websites listing the ingredients and the process for concocting a deadly hydrogen sulfide gas that has been used in a spate of recent “detergent suicides.”
The gas, which can form a cloud that affects neighbours and rescuers, has often triggered mass evacuations.
The Peninsula Hotel in Tokyo, for example, was forced to clear patrons from 4 floors, while in Konan City, a 14-year-old girl used the gas, causing her mother to be hospitalized and 90 of her neighbours to flee their homes.
Japanese media reported that the girl stuck a sign to the bathroom door that stated “DO NOT open! Poison gas being produced!” She had printed it from the website where she'd learned how to mix the chemicals.
Since March 2008, more than 180 people have died as a result of inhaling the fumes produced by the deadly mix of common bathroom cleaning products, prompting the Japan National Police Agency to ask Internet service providers to shut down a number of websites that provided a recipe for the toxic gas.
The toxicity of hydrogen sulfide is comparable with that of hydrogen cyanide. It forms a complex bond with iron in the mitochondrial cytochrome enzymes, thereby blocking oxygen from binding and stopping cellular respiration. The victims die from suffocation or brain damage. The hydrogen sulfide gas is colourless and smells like rotten eggs, but it can paralyze the sense of smell after a few inhalations. In lower doses, it causes eye irritation, upset stomach and breathing problems.
Japan has the ninth highest suicide rate in the world. In 2006, 31 155 people killed themselves, the ninth consecutive year in which suicide deaths topped 30 000. The government spends $220 million annually on anti-suicide programs.
According to the World Health Organization (based on 1999 data), Japan had a suicide rate of 24.3 males and 11.5 females per 100 000 population. By comparison, Canada's rate was 21.5 and 5.4.
Hajime Oiso, a spokesman for Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, says it isn't clear how many websites have now been shut down or whether that has affected the rate of detergent suicides.
Ontario's Chief Coroner, Dr. Bonita Porter, says there's no evidence the fad has spread to Canada.
But Dr. Paul Links, chair in suicide studies at the University of Toronto, says ready access to information about suicide methods invariably leads to higher rates.
It's not just instructional websites that are a problem, Links says. “In general, there is a relationship between media reporting of method and copycat suicides.” — Amanda Truscott, Toronto, Ont.
Figure. Medical workers are being forced to wear gas masks in responding to “detergent suicides” in Japan. Image by: inhauscreative / iStockphoto.com