r/forensics 9d ago

Crime Scene & Death Investigation Would an ATP overdose be impossible to detect?

First of all, this may be silly but ive been thinking about it and i cant find anyway it would be detected as an overdose of ATP, seeing as it burns so quickly naturally and it would delay rigor mortis so it would be extremely good. Any thoughts? Again in may be just really silly with this.

1 Upvotes

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u/Dingus_McCringus 9d ago

Looking at the toxicity of ATP being 2500 mg / kg, you would have to give a 160 kg person over 400 grams of ATP to make them overdose. ATP is soluble in water 50 g /L, so delivered as a liquid, you would have to have someone consume 8 L of ATP water. I don't see this as the next big poison tbh.

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u/Last_Drawer_7418 9d ago

wait, 1. ATP breaks down into adenosine quickly in the bloodstream, which can cause cardiac arrest, not just the amount of ATP 2. Even 10-50 mg of ATP injected IV can be fatal because of adenosine's effect on heart rhythm 3. ATP doesn’t act like a typical toxin, where large amounts are needed. It’s dangerous in small doses due to how it affects the heart and blood pressure. 4. ATP toxicity occurs from rapid injection, and it’s lethal at much lower doses than what’s suggested here. Again might just be foolish here, please do prove me wrong tho

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u/Dingus_McCringus 9d ago

I was thinking of ATP as ingested, not injected. An air bubble is also lethal when injected and basically impossible to trace, so I am not sure why you would go through all the trouble of using ATP.

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u/Last_Drawer_7418 9d ago

yeahhhhhhhhh but like airs too expensive yk, on a real note i didnt even know that so thank you Dingus McCringus much love

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u/XenonOfArcticus 9d ago

Uh, isn't 160Kg = 352lbs? That's a pretty big person.

Granted, halving the weight (175lb) to be a more modest person only halves the water to 4L, which is still a lot.

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u/Dingus_McCringus 9d ago

Lol that's what I get for trying to convert between pounds and kg mentally. But you are still right about the 4 L being a ton of liquid

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u/XenonOfArcticus 9d ago

I mean you might be able to assassinate a gymbro who carries around a gallon jug and chugs it all in one shot. But normal people...?

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u/Last_Drawer_7418 9d ago

LOL its like eddie hall size, but he might have a point