Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 16, 2026

Microdialysis of Ethanol During Operant Ethanol Self-administration and Ethanol Determination by Gas Chromatography
Published on: September 5, 2012
Alcohol discovered in the urine after death: ante-mortem ingestion or post-mortem artefact?
1Lately Consultant Pathologist, RAF Centre of Aviation Medicine, RAF Henlow, Bedfordshire SG16 6DN.
Abstract:
A study was undertaken of blood and urine alcohol levels in 44 cases where the bodies had been immersed in water, following accidents, for at least one day after death. In no case was there any ante-mortem evidence of ingested alcohol. In 15 cases there was a raised urine alcohol. The average urine-to-blood alcohol ratio in these cases was 0.56:1. This is dramatically less that that seen after ingestion. It is suggested that the alcohol, following its initial post-mortem production in the abdomen, enters the urine by diffusion from surrounding tissues. The presence of alcohol in the urine from bodies that have not been recovered and examined until several days after death cannot always be taken to indicate ante-mortem ingestion. Urine-to-blood alcohol ratios of less than 1:1 are strongly suggestive of post-mortem production.
Related Concept Videos
Urine Studies I: Urinalysis
Aldehydes and Ketones with Alcohols: Hemiacetal Formation
Microbes in Beverage Production
Alcohols from Carbonyl Compounds: Grignard Reaction
Magnesium from the reagent coordinates with carbonyl oxygen, further reducing the carbonyl carbon's electron density. Thus, the carbonyl carbon is a...
Autoxidation of Ethers to Peroxides and Hydroperoxides
Preparation of Alcohols via Addition Reactions
The acid-catalyzed addition of water to the double bond of alkenes is a large-scale industrial method used to synthesize low-molecular-weight alcohols. An acidic atmosphere is required to allow the hydrogen in the water molecule to act as an electrophile and attack the double bond in an alkene. The addition of a proton to the double bond creates a carbocation intermediate. The proton preferentially bonds to the less substituted end of the double bond to create a more stable carbocation...
