The Role of Diatoms in Medico-Legal Investigations II: a Case for the Development and Testing of New Modalities Applicable to the Diatom Test for Drowning‪.‬

Abstract Deaths by drowning are difficult to determine and are often diagnosed by eliminating all other potential causes of death. The diatom test stands as the only direct screening test for drowning. However, the field of forensic limnology has stagnated in the literature, at least in terms of the emergence of new and more accurate collection, testing, and confirmation modalities. In this article, continuing from the authors' review article on the topic (which appeared in the Fall 2006 issue of The Forensic Examiner[R]), new approaches are put forth in an attempt to renew interest and spark research into the development of a series of proposed modalities. It concludes by addressing the legal challenges to introducing new approaches to the diatom test for drowning.