Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T11:01:47.483Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

32 - Suicide/undetermined by gases

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 April 2023

Mary Shaw
Affiliation:
University of Bristol
Bethan Thomas
Affiliation:
University of Sheffield
George Davey Smith
Affiliation:
University of Bristol
Daniel Dorling
Affiliation:
University of Sheffield
Get access

Summary

This is a sub-category of deaths due to suicide, and relates to self-poisoning by exposure to gases and vapours, including carbon monoxide and motor vehicle exhaust gas. It also includes cases where intent is undetermined but suicide is often a possibility.

The rates are noticeably low for this method of suicide in areas where many people do not own cars, such as in London. The rates are higher where households own several cars – and where more people have garages.

A common method of suicide that falls into this category is self-asphyxiation using car exhaust fumes. This is a method of suicide traditionally favoured by young and middle-aged males (Amos et al, 2001) and is duly reflected in the age–sex bar chart. The introduction of catalytic converters (that remove carbon monoxide) to cars in the 1990s had the effect of reducing the number of deaths from this cause. However, Amos et al (2001) reported evidence of a compensatory rise in rates of hanging among young and middle-aged men (see Map 34).

Similarly, when the domestic gas supply was switched from coal gas to natural gas (which does not contain carbon monoxide) there was a significant drop in the suicide rate using this method. That change occurred before the data that are shown here were collated.

Amos, T., Appleby, L. and K. Kiernan (2001) ‘Changes in rates of suicide by car exhaust asphyxiation in England and Wales’, Psychological Medicine, no 31, pp 935-9.

Poet Sylvia Plath and pathologist Sir Bernard Silsbury died from this cause.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Grim Reaper's Road Map
An Atlas of Mortality in Britain
, pp. 66 - 67
Publisher: Bristol University Press
Print publication year: 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×