The Diatom Test for Drowning in Ontario

The diatom test for drowning has proved to be a useful, reliable, and valid test for the postmortem diagnosis of drowning in hundreds of cases of drowning in Ontario, Canada. In Ontario, the test has been largely applied to the femoral bone marrow which has facilitated the referral of cases from sites outside of the Office of the Chief Coroner for Ontario. The diatom test has also provided key scientific evidence for the prosecution of homicidal drownings in Ontario, and other provinces. New frontiers for application of the diatom test include wider application in putative drowning cases where the cause of death is obscured by decomposition, burning of the body or other means. Application of molecular biological approaches to the diagnosis of drowning through polymerase chain reaction-based amplification of diatom DNA from human tissues may be the next step in the evolution of the diatom test for drowning.