Final answer:
The claim that extracellular and intracellular fluids can be reduced to 30% before death is false. These fluids are vital for physiological functions and maintaining life, and a significant reduction would likely cause death.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that extracellular fluid and intracellular fluid can each be reduced to 30% before death from dehydration occurs is false. The human body is highly dependent on water for normal physiological functions. Water content varies in different body organs and tissues, and is critical for life.
Intracellular fluid (ICF) makes up about 60 percent of the total water in the human body and is the principal component of the cytosol/cytoplasm. Significant loss of water from the ICF can disrupt normal cellular activities, leading to cell damage or death. The extracellular fluid (ECF) represents the other one-third of the body's water content. It includes plasma and interstitial fluid (IF) that surrounds cells not in the blood.
The ECF is also crucial as it transports a range of materials necessary for cell survival and function. Thus, a reduction to 30% of these fluids would be incompatible with life and would likely result in death well before reaching this level of dehydration.