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Alkoholowa mapa Górnego Śląska dotycząca osób zmarłych – analiza toksykologiczno-geograficzna oznaczeń alkoholu we krwi wykonanych na zlecenie prokuratury w 2025 roku
Department of Forensic Medicine and Forensic Toxicology, Faculty of Medical Sciences in Katowice, Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, Poland /
Katedra i Zakład Medycyny Sądowej i Toksykologii Sądowo-Lekarskiej, Wydział Nauk Medycznych w Katowicach, Śląski Uniwersytet Medyczny, Katowice, Polska
Department of Histopathology, Silesian Centre for Heart Diseases, Zabrze, Poland / Pracownia Histopatologii, Śląskie Centrum Chorób Serca, Zabrze, Polska
Alcohol Drug Addict 2025; 38 (4): 237-242
Dear Editor,
Ethyl alcohol is still the most widespread and harmful psychoactive substance available with virtually no restriction. According to WHO estimates, per capita alcohol consumption in Poland for 15-year-olds and over is as much as 12 litres of pure alcohol, making Poland one of Europe’s biggest consumers [1]. According to Eurostat, approximately 30% of drinking Poles exceed the intoxication threshold at least once a month [2]. The EZOP II study estimates there are 600,000 alcohol-dependent people in Poland and nearly two million with alcohol-related mental disorders [3].
I decided to conduct a preliminary toxicological and geographical analysis of 862 blood-alcohol post-mortum readings for the prosecutor’s office in Silesia in 2025. All readings were performed at the Department of Forensic Medicine and Forensic Toxicology of the Silesian Medical University in Katowice using the reference gas chromatographic method with headspace analysis. The commissioners were all district prosecutor’s offices within the jurisdiction of the Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Katowice. Most samples were analysed during forensic medical autopsies to verify sobriety at the time of death, which was why blood samples had been submitted for alcohol analysis.
The average blood ethyl-alcohol concentration in the whole of Silesia in 2025 was 0.69‰. The highest average concentration was found in the Sosnowiec-Południe District Prosecutor’s Office (1.63‰) and the lowest in the Częstochowa, Częstochowa-Południe and Lubliniec District Prosecutor’s Offices (0‰). The highest unit alcohol concentration was 7.15‰ in Pszczyna. Figure 1 presents an “alcohol map” of Upper Silesia for deceased persons.
Table I presents detailed results including the number of blood alcohol tests, their rates per 10,000 residents, mean values, standard deviation, median and minimum and maximum values for all 36 district prosecutor’s offices in Silesia. The table reveals significant spatial variation in the number of tests. Their rates vary tenfold, from 0.4 per 10,000 residents in Lubliniec and Częstochowa, to 4.5 in Pszczyna.
In my opinion, it is justified to intensify anti- alcohol activities, taking into account the results of toxicological and geographical analysis; these can be...
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