Evidence for an early onset of endogenous alcohol production in bodies recovered from the water: implications for studying alcohol and drowning
Section snippets
General introduction
Forensic pathologists have long been aware that the immersion of bodies for long periods post-drowning can prevent a complete understanding of the circumstances of death. The fact that decomposition can lead to the production of endogenous blood alcohol and thus overestimate ante-mortem blood alcohol concentration (BAC) has generated much discussion regarding the best means of interpreting the outcome of these tests (Spitz, 1993, O’Neal and Poklis, 1996). Blood samples taken from putrefied
Study introduction
The initial objective of the present study was to examine the time course of decomposition in human bodies using the drop in lung weight that occurs over time in the water as a proxy for decomposition. We sought to provide an empirical measure of how soon after death that one should suspect endogenous alcohol production across the large samples of cases typically employed for epidemiological research, that is, while still acknowledging that individual exceptions may occur. Although Kringsholm
Case definition
A total of 1589 drownings occurred in Maryland from 1982 to 1999. Of these, 1321 occurred in either inland lakes and rivers or in the brackish waters of the Chesapeake Bay and its estuaries. Some 1071 of these cases were autopsied (81%), of which 562 cases were selected for the study based on (a) male gender, (b) black or white race, (c) age 18–65 years, (d) no contributing causes of death, (e) no evidence of disease, and (f) a time interval from death to recovery of the body which is known (or
Results
Of the 562 cases included in the present study, the mean unadjusted lung weight (and standard deviation) across time of year and submersion group, as well as the sample size, mean age, mean height, mean weight, and racial profile of the sample are presented in Table 1. The two-way time of year by submersion group ANCOVA showed significant main effects of time of year and submersion time group [F(1,561)=17.2, P<0.001; F(5,561)=25.2, P<0.001, respectively] as well as a significant time of year by
Conclusion
Our finding that lung weight dropped earlier for cases found in the warmer waters of spring, summer and fall than in the colder waters of winter, and only in the cases with positive BACs, supports the hypothesis that the drop in lung weight is due to decomposition, and not to a passive leakage of water from the lungs over time as had been suggested earlier (Kringsholm et al., 1991, Morild, 1995). Converging support for the decomposition hypothesis was also possible by observing that the
Acknowledgements
This study was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (R29AA07700). We wish to acknowledge the assistance of the Maryland Office of the Chief Medical Examiner without whose help this study would not have been possible.
References (40)
The bacterial production of ethyl alcohol
J. Forensic Soc.
(1968)- et al.
Determination of ethanol in fresh and putrefied postmortem tissues
J. Chromatogr.
(1973) - et al.
Autopsy cases of drowning in Denmark, 1987–1989
Forensic Sci. Int.
(1991) - et al.
Medicolegal studies on alcohol detected in dead bodies-alcohol levels in skeletal muscle
Forensic Sci. Int.
(1982) Non-highway injury fatalities. I. The roles of alcohol and problem drinking, drugs and medical impairment
J. Chronic Dis.
(1972)- et al.
Blood, bone marrow and eye fluid ethanol concentrations in putrefied rabbits
Forensic Sci. Int.
(1983) - Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, Citizen Monitoring Program Database. Located at: http://www.acb-online.org. Accessed:...
- et al.
Development of ethanol in blood samples and human organs during forensic chemical practice
Acta Pharmocol. Toxicol.
(1953) - et al.
Studies on the formation of endogenous ethanol in blood putrefying in vitro
J. Forensic Med.
(1970) - et al.
Deaths in drowning
N Z Med. J.
(1984)