THE SIGNIFICANCE OF DETECTING SERUM FLUORINE LEVEL IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF DROWNING / 中国法医学杂志

In view of the high content of fluorine in the water in Guangdong pro-vince,we detected the serum fluorine level in rabbits died of drowning andcompared with that obtained from rabbits immersed in water after deathfrom hanging.The fluorine content in water is about 15 folds higher than normal whilein control cases the serum fluorine values are slightly lower than normal.The fluorine content in human serum is similar with that of rabbits.Itsuggests that detection of serum fluorine content might be a valuable methodfor the diagnosis of drowning in those areas where there are high waterfluorine content.