Common food preservative linked to rising suicide deaths among young people (sciencedaily.com)

Researchers say the findings point to an urgent public health need to reconsider unrestricted access to the chemical in an effort to prevent further avoidable deaths. Suicide death rates across the UK have generally declined since the early 1990s. More recently, however, there are signs that the numbers may be increasing. At the same time, reports from around the world have documented a growing number of suicides associated with sodium nitrite poisoning. Researchers Examine Sodium Nitrite Poisoning Cases To investigate whether sodium nitrite poisoning may be contributing to suicide deaths in the UK, researchers conducted a retrospective analysis of cases submitted to the country's primary laboratory for postmortem testing of nitrite and its oxidized metabolite, nitrate. The cases were submitted by coroners, forensic pathologists, and police forces between March 2019 and August 2024. Over that period, the laboratory received 274 samples connected to 201 suspected cases of either deliberate or accidental poisoning across the UK, Ireland, and Gibraltar. Most cases originated in Greater London, South East England, Ireland, and the Midlands. However, the researchers caution that this geographic pattern could reflect differences in coroner awareness and testing practices rather than the actual distribution of cases. The number of cases increased...