Experimental study on postmortem formation of carbon monoxide.
Rats were drowned and kept immersed for 1 month in either boiled city water, or boiled or unboiled fresh water collected from a river. A small amount of carbon monoxide (CO) formed after death and a low carboxyhemoglobin (HbCO) saturation was found in blood and thoracic cavity fluid of the animals immersed in boiled city water and in boiled fresh water. A considerable amount of CO and a high HbCO saturation was observed in blood and thoracic cavity fluid in two out of three rats immersed in unboiled fresh water at 4-6 degrees C, and in one out of three at 6-16 degrees C. It is suggested that microorganisms in the water, in which the rats were drowned and kept immersed, and low temperatures of around 5 degrees C during storage, played an important role in the postmortem formation of carbon monoxide.
D000818:Animals; D002248:Carbon Monoxide / Q000378:metabolism*; D002263:Carboxyhemoglobin / Q000378:metabolism; D004332:Drowning; D008297:Male; D011180:Postmortem Changes; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D013696:Temperature; D014871:Water Microbiology
D002248:Carbon Monoxide; D002263:Carboxyhemoglobin