Iron Staining of the Hands in Suicides with Firearms

Abstract

In death resulting from gunshot wounds it is the routine policy of the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences to examine the hands for evidence of powder and primer residues. In the past three months while performing such examinations the authors encountered three cases in which there was an orange-brown discoloration of the skin of the palm of one hand. Several months ago, one of the authors (V. J. M. D.) had been contacted by another medical examiner who had noticed this phenomenon and did not know its cause. He indicated that his cases were suicides and that the weapon had been a long arm. The authors at that time had no explanation.

“Rust stain”: a rare mark in firearm suicide—a case report and review of the literature

“…Rust spots were first described as the result of tight contact between the skin and the gun in 1914, underlying how cataleptic rigor mortis was an absolute prerequisite for the formation of these marks [ 19 ]. To explain the phenomenon, Norton et al hypothesized that the mechanism resided in the interaction between the iron of the weapon and the water and salt present in the sweat [ 20 ]. The peculiarity of this sign was further confirmed in 1995 by Bohnert et al, who reported a case of suicide committed with a rifle where the weapon left two ribbon-like traces of rust on the hand that remained in contact with the metal [ 21 ].…”

“…The first histological examination performed by Norton et al identified a brown-orange discoloration of the skin limited to the surface in contact with the weapon [ 20 ]. In 1996, Puschel et al reproduced the phenomenon in an experimental setting using different weapons [ 24 ].…”

“…The extent of the produced metallization was confirmed by microscopic examinations: in the majority of cases, a thin layer of metallization of the stratum corneum extending towards the deep folds of the skin was detected with the Perls Prussian Blue staining, while migration of iron in the middle layers of the epidermis was observed in case of prolonged contact with very rusty weapons. Similarly, energy dispersion X-rays showed higher levels of iron in the rust-stained skin compared to that of the control [ 20 ].…”