Father of apparent suicide victim in South End says BU daughter was working to help elderly

The BU graduate student who died of an apparent suicide after ingesting a toxic chemical in her South End apartment on Monday night, forcing the other tenants to evacuate, was working to eradicate diseases that afflict the elderly, her grief-stricken father said Tuesday.

“Some of her older family members had diseases of the aged, like Alzheimer’s, and she was trying to contribute to society’’ by eliminating those conditions, said Jeffrey Brown, 58, of Virginia, the father of Carolyn Brown, 25.

Carolyn Brown, a doctoral candidate in pharmacology at Boston University, ingested a toxic chemical in her first-floor apartment at 676 Massachusetts Ave. at about 9 p.m. on Monday, BU and fire officials said. She was later pronounced dead at Boston Medical Center.

University and public safety officials have not identified Brown by name, but a message beneath her name on the BU School of Medicine website said Tuesday, “Our community is mourning her loss on April 9, 2012.’’

The resulting hazmat scene from the episode forced the evacuation of about 12 other tenants from the apartment building, and sent police officers and EMS workers to the hospital, according to the Boston Fire Department.

Maria Ober, a spokeswoman for the Boston University Medical Campus, said Brown worked at a biomedical lab and researched the effects of aging on the brain.

‘‘An initial look shows we have no evidence of anything missing from the lab and, as we receive additional [information] from authorities, we will continue to look into this,’’ Ober said Tuesday by phone.

Fire officials could not determine the chemical she ingested because they did not find toxic materials inside the apartment, Fire Department spokesman Steve MacDonald said.

The cause of death cannot be determined until an autopsy, which has not yet been scheduled, is conducted, officials said Tuesday.

Along with the evacuations Monday night, four police officers and an ambulance crew were taken to BMC after responding to the scene, fire officials said.

MacDonald said the tenants returned to the building at about 1:45 a.m. Tuesday, and the officers and ambulance workers were cleared to leave the hospital at about midnight.

Boston Deputy Fire Chief Stephen Dunbar said at the scene early Tuesday that the chemical in question may have been sodium azide, which is used to make airbags. However, MacDonald could not confirm that report later in the day.

Brown’s death follows at least three similar incidents in Eastern Massachusetts.

A Brighton woman in her 70s died in March 2011 in an apparent suicide after ingesting cyanide, and a Northeastern University researcher died in her Milford home the previous September after drinking orange juice mixed with sodium cyanide.

Last May, a Somerville man died about a week after he was found in his home behind a bathroom door with a note attached that warned of poisonous gas.