Forensics Applications

Watson, J.T., Introduction to Mass Spectrometry Biomedical, Environmental and Forensic Applications, Raven Press, New York, 1976. 

FORENSIC APPLICATION OF LEUCO AND NEAR-INFRARED DYES... 

Comprehensive two-dimensional GC has also been employed for the analysis of pesticides from serum, which, although not strictly a forensic analytical problem , provides an example of the promise of this technique to forensic applications, such as the analysis of drugs of abuse (40). Two-dimensional gas chromatograms of a 17-pesticide standard and an extract from human serum are shown in Figure 15.13. The total analysis time of about 5 min, high peak capacity and the separation of all... 

As the vapor leaves the tube, the compounds in the sample are detected by a device such as a thermal conductivity detector. This instrument continuously measures the thermal conductivity (the ability to conduct heat) of the carrier gas, which changes when a solute is present. The detection techniques are very sensitive, allowing tiny amounts of solutes to be detected. Many environmental monitoring and forensic applications have been developed. 

Kasprzyk-Hordem B, Dinsdale RM, Guwy AJ (2009) Illicit dmgs and pharmaceuticals in the environment - forensic applications of environmental data. Part 2 Pharmaceuticals as chemical markers of faecal water contamination. Environ Pollut 157(6) 1778-1786... 

Approximately 5%-10% of ethanol is excreted unchanged in the breath and urine. The blood-to-breath ratio of ethanol is 2,000 to 1, an important relationship that permits blood alcohol determination from expired air, providing the basis for the use of breath alcohol measurement for clinical, research, and forensic applications. 

Applications Some typical applications of TXRF are quantitative microanalyses of samples in the 10-100 xg range, forensic applications, microinclusions, environmental samples like rain-water, sea-water, etc. 

TXRF is frequently used for contamination control and ultrasensitive chemical analysis, in particular in relation to materials used in semiconductor manufacturing [278,279], and metallic impurities on resin surfaces, as in PFA sheets [279,280], TXRF has been used by Simmross et al. [281] for the quantitative determination of cadmium in the four IRMM polyethylene reference materials (VDA-001 to 004). Microsamples (20-100 ig) from each reference material were transferred by hot pressing at 130 °C as 3 xm thin films straight on to quartz glass discs commonly used for TXRF analysis. The results obtained were quite satisfactory (Table 8.50). Other reports of the forensic application to plastic materials by TXRF have appeared [282], including a study of PE films by elemental analysis [283],... 

Sharp, Z. D., Atudoreia, V., Panarellob, H. O., Fernandezb, J. and Douthitt, C. (2003) Hydrogen isotope systematics of hair archeological and forensic applications. Journal of Archaeological Science 30, 1709. 

HPLC has had considerable success in separating compounds as diverse as steroids, carbohydrates, vitamins, dyestuffs, pesticides and polymers. It is used routinely for the assay of pharmaceutical products, the monitoring of drugs and metabolites in body fluids and for other biomedical, biochemical and forensic applications, such as the detection of drugs of abuse. The determination of additives in foodstuffs and beverages including sugars,... 

J.R. Petersen and A.A. Mohammad, (Eds.), Clinical and Forensic Applications of Capillary Electrophoresis, Humana Press, Inc., New Jersey, USA, 2001. 

Forensic Applications of Mass Spectrometry Yinon, J., editor CRC Press Boca Raton, 1994. 

For high reproducibility of migration times and peak areas the sample matrix should be identical for all samples analyzed together. While this is challenging for forensic applications where analytes in whole blood or urine are determined, this requirement can be fulfilled easily in pharmaceutical analysis. After sample preparation of the drug product, the sample matrix is similar in most cases. The composition of blood or urine depends on its source. Thus, the changing sample matrix has more impact on the quality of the CE analysis. 

Z. Karpas, Forensic applications of ion mobility spectrometry. Forensic Sciences Reviews 1 (1989) 103-119. 

X. Xu, A.M. van der Craats and P.C.A.M. de Bmyn, Highly sensitive screening method for nitroaromatic, nitramines and nitrate ester explosives by high performance liquid chromatography — atmospheric pressure ionization — mass spectrometry (HPLC-APl-MS) in forensic applications , J. Forensic Sci., 49 No. 6 (2004) 1171-1180. 

More examples of forensic applications of Raman spectroscopy have been published recently. It has been used to identify individual crystals of drugs and excipients on paper currency [110], multilayer paint chips, inks, plastics [111], and fibers [112], A study demonstrated the feasibility of quantifying acetaminophen in the presence of many excipient types [113], Other studies seek to identify particulates, such as illicit or abused drugs, in fingerprints lifted at a crime scene [114,115]. 

N.A. Macleod and P Matousek, Emerging non-invasive Raman methods in process control and forensic applications, Pharm. Res., 25, 2205-2215 (2008). 

Dams et al. [18] developed a validated quantitative LC-APCI-MS-MS method for simultaneous determination of multiple illicit drugs and their metabolites in oral fluid. This substrate is being increasingly popular for forensic applications as it provides information on recent use, similarly to blood plasma/serum, although it can be obtained with a simple, noninvasive, collection. Sample pretreatment, though limited to protein precipitation with acetonitrile, was sufficient to avoid matrix effect (see Figure 20.2). 

Multitarget forensic applications of HPLC for other drug classes are also available in the literature. Josefsson et al. [77] applied HPLC-MS-MS to the determination of 19 neuroleptics and their major metabolites in human tissues and body fluids. Optimal separation was achieved using a cyano column within a 9 min gradient run. Detection was curried out in SRM reaching LQDs down to the lower ng/mL level, although more than a 10-fold difference in signal response was observed between analytes. The method was subjected to partial validation only. 

In an applied role, PCR is invaluable as a fingerprinting device in forensic applications (Budowle et al., 1994), as a diagnostic tool of diseases (Cariolou et al., 1993), and for identifying organisms from viruses (Ali Jameel, 1993) to whales (Baker Palumbi, 1994). Volumes have already been devoted to this powerful technique, despite its being only 10 years old. 

More recently, the forensic application of DNA testing has dramatically enhanced the ability to determine the source of a blood sample. Two procedures are in forensic use restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). 

Microspectroscopy applies the identification power of infrared spectroscopy to the microscopic realm. Contaminants on printed circuit boards, blemishes in coatings, and other production defects can be isolated in situ and analyzed (see Electronics, coatings). Analysis of flaws that develop during use illuminates the method of failure. Microscopic samples, such as particulates filtered from air, can be analyzed individually. The forensic applications are many paint chips, single fibers, explosive residues, and inks on currency can all be identified nondestmctively (see Forensic chemistry). The structures of layered materials, such as laminated polymer films, are studied via microspectroscopy by cross-sectioning the materials and examining the individual layers edge on (47). 

Fig. 3.11. Non-invasive Raman spectra of aspirin tablets measured through a white, diffusely scattering 1.3 mm thick plastic container. Conventional Raman and the scaled and subtracted SORS data are shown together with the reference Raman spectra of aspirin and the plastic container. The conventional Raman spectrum is dominated by the Raman signal of the container masking the Raman signal of the aspirin contents. The acquisition time was Is and the laser beam power 250mW (N.A. Macleod, P. Matousek, Emerging non-invasive Raman methods in process control and forensic applications, Pharm. Res. 25, 2205 (2008). Copyright (2008) Springer)...

Bentazone, determination of 346 Biomedical applications 251-289 see also forensic applications Breakthrough volume 121, 123... 

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