An older refrigerator (c.1942) with a closing latch and a newer mini fridge which uses magnets to hold the door closed
A refrigerator death is death by suffocation in a refrigerator or other air-tight appliance. Because, by design, such appliances are air-tight when closed, a person entrapped inside will have a low supply of oxygen. Early refrigerators could only be opened from the outside, making accidental entrapment a possibility, particularly of children playing with discarded appliances; many such deaths have been recorded.[1][2] Modern designs close with a magnetic mechanism that can be opened from the inside, reducing the danger of accidental entrapment.
- ^ Kraus, JF (1985). "Effectiveness of measures to prevent unintentional deaths of infants and children from suffocation and strangulation". Public Health Reports. 100 (2): 231–240. PMC 1424727. PMID 3920722.
- ^ Spitz, Werner U., ed. (1993). Spitz and Fisher's Medicolegal Investigation of Death: Guidelines for the Application of Pathology to Crime Investigation (Third ed.). Springfield, Illinois: Charles C Thomas Publisher Ltd. p. 486.