[On the relevance of examining the internal organs for the presence of diatom plankton after drowning at sea].

Abstract

Objective: To establish the relevance of examining the internal organs for the presence of diatom plankton after drowning in the waters of the White Sea.

Material and methods: We studied the biological material (fragments of lungs and kidneys) from the corpses of people found in the waters of the Kemskaya Bay and Onega Bay of the White Sea and waters from different areas of the White Sea for the presence of diatoms.

Results: In all cases of drowning in the waters of the White Sea (in the area of the city of Belomorsk and the Kem skerries), marine and freshwater diatoms were found in the lungs and kidneys of the deceased in quantities sufficient to diagnose death from drowning in water. No diatoms were found in the unmixed waters of the White Sea. However, marine and freshwater diatoms were found in mixed waters (mouths of the Nizhniy Vyg River and the 19th lock of the White Sea-Baltic Canal). Desalination of seawater in the coastal zones of the White Sea reduces its salinity to isotonic values and even lowers it. This promotes the penetration of marine and freshwater diatoms contained in the water into the bloodstream of victims dying from drowning.

Conclusions: The obtained results justify the relevance of examining the internal organs in cases of drowning in the coastal waters of the White Sea.