# You can drown in a tablespoon of water? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 21, 2003, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-drown-in-a-tablespoon-of-water/176636 "2003-05-21T20:27:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![guava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/71e660/32.png) [@guava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guava)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-drown-in-a-tablespoon-of-water/176636/1 "2003-05-21T20:27:53Z")
My mother told me this when I was little, and from that point it has troubled me. If I had a tablespoon of water in my bathtub, there wouldn’t be much chance of me drowning in it. Once I got my feet in, sat down, there wouldn’t be much left to drown in. So, what then, means this phrase? I checked my trusty Google, and came up but with one relevant link [Not much help here](http://www.greatnorthwestbooks.com/b_books/b_LB7foreword.html) So what is the true origin of this cautionary phrase? If you swallow your drink the wrong way, could it get into your lungs and drown you? All those times I’ve coughed, and declared “It went down the wrong tube” was I at risk of death? Should we all be training our children to drink more carefully, or have I been fretting about this unnecessarily? ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-drown-in-a-tablespoon-of-water/176636/2 "2003-05-21T20:44:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by guava \* > \*\*So what is the true origin of this cautionary phrase? If you swallow your drink the wrong way, could it get into your lungs and drown you? All those times I’ve coughed, and declared “It went down the wrong tube” was I at risk of death? \*\* Yes, this is what is meant by the phrase “drown in a tablespoon of water”. I wonder, though, if a tablespoon really is enough to overtake the lungs before coughing could kick in. ---
**Author:** ![ElJeffe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/958977/32.png) [@ElJeffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElJeffe)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-drown-in-a-tablespoon-of-water/176636/3 "2003-05-21T21:32:16Z")
This is a WAG, but I would imagine that the coughing reflex would kick in before a whole tablespoon of liquid could be inhaled. Perhaps if, theoretically, you were able to inhale the whole tablespoon, you would drown? I, too, would appreciate commentary from someone well-informed. Jeff ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-drown-in-a-tablespoon-of-water/176636/4 "2003-05-21T21:34:24Z")
I came across the phrase in a book of Jewish folklore. “If it is a man’s destiny to drown, he will drown even in a tablespoon of water.” The message is obviously about destiny, not drowning. The inescapable destiny was a large part of many cultures. Oedipus is the most obvious example. The idea is central to Norse mythology. Ragnarok will come and nothing can change that. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-drown-in-a-tablespoon-of-water/176636/5 "2003-05-21T22:39:03Z")
The lungs should be able to cope with a mere 15 cc of water without getting seriously oxygen deprived. Their absorptive surface is quite large, and if the water is fresh, should certainly be taken up readily thru the alveoli into the more saline plasma. OTOH, very salty water would tend to draw more fluids into the lungs from the capillary bed. Perhaps 15 cc of very salty water would be enough to draw fluids into the lungs to drown someone? Hmmm. I’ll have to experiment some. [joke mode]Gosh, sometimes its good to work in a prison![/joke mode] ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-drown-in-a-tablespoon-of-water/176636/6 "2003-05-22T01:04:01Z")
Some of the work I do involves operating x-ray equipment during endoscopy procedures. Usually, the doctor injects a numbing agent via the 'scope while taking biopsies. Although I’ve never counted the ml’s, I’m pretty certain that more than a tablespoon is used. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-drown-in-a-tablespoon-of-water/176636/7 "2003-05-22T04:09:11Z")
> [@](#): > > Ventilatory insufficiency is the most critical problem for near-drowning victims. Severe hypoxia is due to aspiration of fluid or to acute reflex laryngospasm, **which may result in asphyxia without aspiration of fluid.** Aspiration of fluid and particulate matter may cause chemical pneumonitis, damaging cells lining the alveoli, and may impair alveolar secretion of surfactant, resulting in patchy atelectasis. The perfusion of nonaerated, atelectatic areas of the lungs leads to intrapulmonary shunting of blood, aggravating the hypoxemia; as more fluid is aspirated, surfactant loss increases, and atelectasis and hypoxemia worsen. Sizable areas of atelectasis may result in stiff noncompliant lungs and respiratory failure. Respiratory acidosis with hypercapnia can occur. A concomitant metabolic acidosis may result from tissue hypoxia. Alveolar and tissue hypoxia can result in pulmonary and cerebral edema. Pulmonary edema due to near drowning is thought to result directly from alveolar hypoxia, analogous to high- altitude pulmonary edema; ie, it is noncardiogenic. Pulmonary edema and atelectasis may coexist. Source: [http://www.merck.com/pubs/mmanual/section20/chapter284/284a.htm](http://www.merck.com/pubs/mmanual/section20/chapter284/284a.htm) ---
**Author:** ![guava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/71e660/32.png) [@guava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guava)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-drown-in-a-tablespoon-of-water/176636/8 "2003-05-22T05:45:10Z")
Gee, Duckster, that looks like it might be the right answer, but could someone translate it into English? I was a psych major, not a medical student. Asphyxia without aspiration of fluid - do they still call this drowning? Wouldn’t it just be asphyxia? ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-drown-in-a-tablespoon-of-water/176636/9 "2003-05-22T06:04:25Z")
> [@](#): > > The mechanism of drowning death is asphyxia leading to hypoxemia and metabolic acidosis. **In autopsy series, 10% to 20% of victims experience “dry” drowning (ie, no water in the lungs)**. For public health purposes, drowning is defined as unintentional death from asphyxia during or within 24 hours of submersion. From [this article](http://www.postgradmed.com/issues/1998/06_98/thanel.htm) for our medical Dopers. If I recall correctly from my reading of the Encyclopedia of Forensic Medicine years ago, the closing off of the trachea by the body is diagnostic of drowning. Fluid can be found in the lungs of bodies immersed subsequent to death by other causes. ---
**Author:** ![guava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/71e660/32.png) [@guava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guava)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-drown-in-a-tablespoon-of-water/176636/10 "2003-05-23T05:07:40Z")
**don’t ask** , that was a little more readable than the other source. So you don’t just have to have a tablespoon of water in your lungs to drown, you could have _no water_ in your lungs? The article talks about drowning in home pools, ponds, ditches, old septic tanks, and buckets. Presumably though, these all have more than a tablespoon of water in them. Some definitions of drowning: (From [http://define.ansme.com/words/d/drown.html](http://define.ansme.com/words/d/drown.html)) * * * drown (verb) - 1. die from being submerged in water, getting water into the lungs, and asphyxiating “The child drowned in the lake” 2. get rid of as if by submerging “She drowned her trouble in alcohol” 3. kill by submerging in water “He drowned the kittens” 4. cover completely or make imperceptible “I was drowned in work”; “The noise drowned out her speech” Synonyms: submerge, overwhelm * * * and other similar definitions at [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=drown) Is there anything else that would cause your body to close off the trachea other than being submerged in water? From **don’t ask** ’s link: Seizure disorders increase the risk of drowning, and hypothermia may lead to drowning. But it still doesn’t say you could drown without being submerged in water. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-drown-in-a-tablespoon-of-water/176636/11 "2003-05-23T05:54:48Z")
You’re right, by definition you can only drown if you have been submerged in fluid. “Submerged” would only mean that your mouth and nose were underwater. Other factors increase your risk of drowning by making you more likely to suffer laryngospasm due to submersion. Never the less it is the laryngospasm that causes the asphyxia no matter how little water is inhaled. In 80-90% of cases the laryngospasm stops and water is aspirated creating a “wet” drowning. This makes my assertion about the laryngospasm being diagnostic of drowning seem pretty dodgy, I don’t know how you could tell that a body had previously had a laryngospasm. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-drown-in-a-tablespoon-of-water/176636/12 "2003-05-23T06:49:30Z")
How about being stung by a bee and suffering anaphylactic shock (an allergic reaction where your throat swells to the point it cuts of breathing), while at the same time you being to vomit. You effectively drown by choking on your own vomit. No external water source. Sure you could call it death by choking, but quite a few drownings occuring where fluid in the trachea prevents breathing. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-drown-in-a-tablespoon-of-water/176636/13 "2003-05-23T12:54:51Z")
Maybe the story should go like this, “You can asphyxiate on a tablespoon of water, or nothing at all.” ---
**Author:** ![Papermache\_Prince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f05b48/32.png) [@Papermache\_Prince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Papermache_Prince)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-drown-in-a-tablespoon-of-water/176636/14 "2003-05-23T13:07:57Z")
The warning I’ve always heard has been: “An infant or toddler can drown in as little as [one inch of water](http://safeusa.org/water/water.htm).” [Toddler -inch-water-drown](http://www.google.com/search?num=30&hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=toddler+drown+inch+water&btnG=Google+Search) gets about 1,000 hits on Google. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-drown-in-a-tablespoon-of-water/176636/15 "2003-05-23T17:50:21Z")
Fresh from the headlines: a toddler drowned in [six inches](http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/05/23/BA262207.DTL) of water.