Canadian Sisters Died In Thailand From Drinking Cocktail That Contained Insect Repellent

[webfact]

Quebec sisters died in Thailand from drinking DEET

Bodies of Audrey and Noémi Bélanger found on June 15 at hotel on Phi Phi island

CBC News

Sisters Audrey and Noemi Belanger. Photo: Facebook.

BANGKOK: -- The death earlier this year in Thailand of two sisters from Quebec was caused by drinking a cocktail that contained the insect repellent DEET, an autopsy concluded.

Results of the autopsy at a Bangkok hospital have not been publicly released, but they were shown to reporters for CBC's French-language news network.

According to the report, 20-year-old Audrey and Noémi Bélanger, 25, had DEET in their bodies that they had ingested.

Though the chemical is a potentially neurotoxic mosquito repellent, it is used as an ingredient in a euphoria-inducing cocktail that is popular among youth in Thailand. The drink contains cough syrup, Coke, DEET and ground up kratom leaves, which are a mild narcotic indigenous to Thailand.

It is thought that an overdose of DEET was accidentally mixed into the young women's drinks.

They had just arrived on the Thai island of Phi Phi and were last seen partying with two Brazilian friends in the early morning of June 13. Forty-eight hours later, when staff at their hotel hadn't seen them emerge from their room, a receptionist called police. [more...]

Full story: http://www.cbc.ca/ne...nsecticide.html

-- CBCnews 2012-09-01

[Notstupid30]

Thanks for adding my video Webfact

DEET (N,N-Diethyl-meta-toluamide). Chemical Technical Summary for Public Health and Public Safety Professionals. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry

http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/consultations/deet/health-effects.html

Also i can understand the Thai media / Gov have tired to cover this up also Thai hotels have a habbit of spraying all rooms with this stuff and can make problems with breathing ..

[chooka]

so I guess the tales that some posted on the other page about mozzie repellents being put into drinks weren't to far off then. The worldly and wise branded them as loonies running around in tin foil hats with conspiricy theories. I guess there is something to be learnt here, next time before some attack others with insults, stop for a moment and consider the possibility they may actually be more intelligent than yourselves and not escapees from the loony farm. I am refering to minority, those that think they have thier doctorates in everything known to mankind.

[softgeorge]

There was a small article warning about the dangers of mushroom shakes in Thailand that would have crushed up mozzie coils added. The shakes that were/are popular amongst the 20 something set especially on the islands and full moon parties. I posted a link on the original thread. People jumped on me from great hieghts saying it was ridiculous and never happens in Thailand.

[FOODLOVER]

There was a small article warning about the dangers of mushroom shakes in Thailand that would have crushed up mozzie coils added. The shakes that were/are popular amongst the 20 something set especially on the islands and full moon parties. I posted a link on the original thread. People jumped on me from great hieghts saying it was ridiculous and never happens in Thailand.

May i have your link please. Thanks.

[Soutpeel]

so I guess the tales that some posted on the other page about mozzie repellents being put into drinks weren't to far off then. The worldly and wise branded them as loonies running around in tin foil hats with conspiricy theories. I guess there is something to be learnt here, next time before some attack others with insults, stop for a moment and consider the possibility they may actually be more intelligent than yourselves and not escapees from the loony farm. I am refering to minority, those that think they have thier doctorates in everything known to mankind.

OK, but how much have they had to ingest for it to be lethal and the article talks about an overdose of DEET ?...surely that would be a very large amount

[sfbandung]

People drink insect repellent and munched up mozzie coils?

By God, what a sheltered existence I've been living. I suppose the question then is did these ladies know what they were drinking?

[Notstupid30]

Symptoms

For pyrethrins:

• Breathing difficulty
  
• Coughing
  
• Loss of alertness due to imbalance in oxygen level
  
• Tremors (if a large amount is swallowed)
  
• Seizures (if a large amount is swallowed)
  
• Upset stomach
  
• Vomiting
  

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002763.htm

[Soutpeel]

Symptoms

For pyrethrins:

• Breathing difficulty
  
• Coughing
  
• Loss of alertness due to imbalance in oxygen level
  
• Tremors (if a large amount is swallowed)
  
• Seizures (if a large amount is swallowed)
  
• Upset stomach
  
• Vomiting
  

http://www.nlm.nih.g...icle/002763.htm

ok but what quantity ingested is lethal in a female adult

The other thing I didnt see in the article is how the pathologist came to the conclusion that they ingested this in a drink, ie if the theroy of the "posioned cocktail" is correct, surely they would have found other evidence to support this ie traces of kratom leaves etc, as one assumes a "posioned cocktail" is not the only source of DEET on Phi-Phi,

Edited September 1, 2012 by Soutpeel

[meatboy]

bars serving lethal cocktails than can kill,will they be open this weekend?and this govenment is clamping down on fakes,glad to see they have their priority's right.

[Thai at Heart]

Well, now that it's official presumably the copper s can pay a visit to the bars and restaurants the girls went to. If someone is knowingly selling this in a cocktail, and that some type of manslaughter. /murder.

However, I don't know if companies normally use this stuff to fumigate or fog spray places, but could it be ingested to a level through accidental contamination? Surely not?

Edited September 1, 2012 by Thai at Heart

[submaniac]

I hope that someone goes to prison for this. These girls were too young to die like this. Knowing that this is Thailand, I kind of doubt it though.

[Notstupid30]

Symptoms

For pyrethrins:

• Breathing difficulty
  
• Coughing
  
• Loss of alertness due to imbalance in oxygen level
  
• Tremors (if a large amount is swallowed)
  
• Seizures (if a large amount is swallowed)
  
• Upset stomach
  
• Vomiting
  

http://www.nlm.nih.g...icle/002763.htm

ok but what quantity ingested is lethal in a female adult

A bucket cocktail for 200thb could do it maybe

Edited September 1, 2012 by Notstupid30

[ozziebloke]

It's so sad that teens are finding new ways to get high. It is happening all over the world kids experimenting

[meatboy]

who the hell is writing these reports,police hunt for 2 portuguese who where drinking with the sisters,now they say it was 2 brazilians.

[KeyserSoze01]

I've seen people do some pretty strange things to get high, but drinking DEET was not one of them. That crap in banned in the US because it is so toxic. The girls probably never knew what they were drinking. So sad.

[Notstupid30]

It's so sad that teens are finding new ways to get high. It is happening all over the world kids experimenting

I stick to bottel beer but even that here in Thailand can get spiked with sleeping pills

[Mosha]

My wife says the "cocktail" is called 1-2-Call.

[Notstupid30]

My wife says the "cocktail" is called 1-2-Call.

I get called 1-2- call all the time means nothing to me that ?

Edited September 1, 2012 by Notstupid30

[Mosha]

who the hell is writing these reports,police hunt for 2 portuguese who where drinking with the sisters,now they say it was 2 brazilians.

As long as it's not Thai's at fault

[Soutpeel]

Symptoms

For pyrethrins:

• Breathing difficulty
  
• Coughing
  
• Loss of alertness due to imbalance in oxygen level
  
• Tremors (if a large amount is swallowed)
  
• Seizures (if a large amount is swallowed)
  
• Upset stomach
  
• Vomiting
  

http://www.nlm.nih.g...icle/002763.htm

ok but what quantity ingested is lethal in a female adult

A bucket cocktail for 200thb could do it maybe

A quick google shows that around 2gm's/kg is lethal to rats, so if use this as a base number, both girls, if one assumes a 50kg body weight had to comsume 100gms each....that's a h*ll of a lot of DEET in a drink, even in a bucket

[softgeorge]

There was a small article warning about the dangers of mushroom shakes in Thailand that would have crushed up mozzie coils added. The shakes that were/are popular amongst the 20 something set especially on the islands and full moon parties. I posted a link on the original thread. People jumped on me from great hieghts saying it was ridiculous and never happens in Thailand.

May i have your link please. Thanks.

I will have to go back and find it again, this is not my original link but he may help you on the path to further reading, I will repost my original when I locate it shortly

http://www.thebackpacker.net/travel-guide/travel-stories/thailand/86/

[angiud]

Cheap cocktail used by young Thais in the South, called 4x150 or, among Burnese, Asia

[FOODLOVER]

It's in OFF insect repelant.

My wife says the "cocktail" is called 1-2-Call.

Good to know for warnings sake, thanks. I had never ever heard of anything like this before.The stuff is in OFF insect repelant! Will stick to cans at the beach from now on.

[softgeorge]

so I guess the tales that some posted on the other page about mozzie repellents being put into drinks weren't to far off then. The worldly and wise branded them as loonies running around in tin foil hats with conspiricy theories. I guess there is something to be learnt here, next time before some attack others with insults, stop for a moment and consider the possibility they may actually be more intelligent than yourselves and not escapees from the loony farm. I am refering to minority, those that think they have thier doctorates in everything known to mankind.

OK, but how much have they had to ingest for it to be lethal and the article talks about an overdose of DEET ?...surely that would be a very large amount

How much did the poor souls in the Downtown Inn consume? You question is hard to answer.

[ManInSurat]

"It is thought that an overdose of DEET was accidentally mixed into the young women's drinks."

It is this line that is the most revealing for me.

Where are you going to be buying drinks that an amount of DEET large enough to kill you is accidentally mixed into your drink?

A bucket or a cocktail that purposely has DEET mixed into it, is a different thing.

For those of you who are implying that the girls knowingly drank this DEET, read the original article again. Don't tar them with a brush.

This would lead me to believe that they were at a bar that sold these dodgy buckets/cocktails and either a) got the wrong one or b ) the cocktail mixer messed up the order.

Makes these deaths appear even more unecessary. If that were possible.

Edited September 1, 2012 by ManInSurat

[DP25]

The report says they had DEET in their body. That doesn't mean the DEET came from a drink, that is them theorizing, and conveniently that explanation absolves anyone of blame. If their guesthouse room been sprayed with toxic chemicals and they contained DEET then it would also be in their bodies. I would think if people were regularly pouring DEET in to drinks, and it were capable of doing what happeend to these two girls, that people would be dropping dead left and right

[cowslip]

I hope that someone goes to prison for this. These girls were too young to die like this. Knowing that this is Thailand, I kind of doubt it though.

of that would solve everything and Thailand could get back to being a "paradise".

[Thai at Heart]

I've seen people do some pretty strange things to get high, but drinking DEET was not one of them. That crap in banned in the US because it is so toxic. The girls probably never knew what they were drinking. So sad.

I was just reading how it is one of the most widely approved insect repellent in the USA, and even for kids as small as 3months. It is decidedly untoxic if used properly

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/DEET#section_1

There is an epa pdf file that classified it as slightly and no where can I do find a description of symptoms for ingestion. As far as I remember it has an unbelievably bitter taste.

[cowslip]

The report says they had DEET in their body. That doesn't mean the DEET came from a drink, that is them theorizing, and conveniently that explanation absolves anyone of blame. If their guesthouse room been sprayed with toxic chemicals and they contained DEET then it would also be in their bodies. I would think if people were regularly pouring DEET in to drinks, and it were capable of doing what happeend to these two girls, that people would be dropping dead left and right

if they were doing it in hotel rooms people would be dropping dead too.....seems that one needs to figure which is the most effective way of ingestion......I'd go for oral.

what puzzles me is why no-one helped them or why they didn't ask for help.....

Edited September 1, 2012 by cowslip