Forensic analysis of wooden safety matches — A case study

Farmer, Nicola; Ruffell, A.; Meier‐Augenstein, Wolfram; Meneely, Julie; Kalin, Robert M.

doi:10.1016/j.scijus.2007.04.001

Cited by 19 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…The above overview of the different ways in which stable isotope signatures can be applied in a forensic context clearly demonstrates the great potential this technique brings to the investigation of crime, even acts of terrorism. While this overview has focused on stable isotope signatures of illicit drugs, explosives and human tissue, the potential and benefits of this technique should not be overlooked when it comes to other types of evidence such as paint , paper (Jones, Benson, & Roux, 2013a;Jones, Benson, & Roux, 2013b;Jones, Benson, & Roux, 2013c;Jones, Benson, & Roux, 2016;van Es, de Koeijer, & van der Peijl, 2009), plastic material (Bezemer et al, 2018), sticky tape (Carter et al, 2004;Dietz et al, 2012;Nienaber, Cresswell, Carter, & Peter, 2018;Quirk, Bellerby, Carter, Thomas, & Hill, 2009), match sticks (Farmer, Curran, Lucy, Daeid, & Meier-Augenstein, 2009;Farmer, Ruffell, Meier-Augenstein, Meneely, & Kalin, 2007) or toxins (Kreuzer et al, 2012;Kreuzer, West, & Ehleringer, 2013;Kreuzer-Martin, Lott, Dorigan, & Ehleringer, 2003;Tea, Antheaume, & Zhang, 2012;Webb-Robertson et al, 2012).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forensic stable isotope signatures: Comparing, geo‐locating, detecting linkage

Meier‐Augenstein

2019

WIREs Forensic Science

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Stable isotope signatures or profiles of physical evidence such as illicit drugs, explosives or human tissue provide information on source, origin, even sample history not obtainable by traditionally applied analytical techniques of forensic chemistry. The discriminatory power, calculated as random match probability, of multivariate stable isotope signatures able to distinguish two cocaine samples from different regions in Colombia can range from one in tens of thousands to one in several million if based on the stable isotope abundances of carbon, nitrogen and hydrogen or carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen and oxygen, respectively. Stable isotope signatures of physical evidence have therefore at the very least great potential to provide invaluable forensic intelligence for intelligence led policing. They may even be of great evidentiary value, especially if corroborated by results from independent analytical techniques. This review aims to offer a glimpse into the fascinating world of forensic stable isotope analysis by discussing the various levels of information stable isotope signatures can provide. For reasons easily appreciated, only a select few instances of its application to criminal investigations have been reported in scientific journals thus far. The various applications of this technique presented in this review are therefore predominantly taken from peer‐reviewed work published in scientific books and journals. This article is categorized under: Forensic Biology > Interpretation of Biological Evidence Forensic Chemistry and Trace Evidence > Explosive Analysis Toxicology > Drug Analysis

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forensic stable isotope signatures: Comparing, geo‐locating, detecting linkage

Meier‐Augenstein

2019

WIREs Forensic Science

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“…Several reviews have discussed forensic applications of IRMS (105)(106)(107)(108), and Meier-Augenstein (109) provided even more comprehensive coverage in his recent book Stable Isotope Forensics. In forensic applications, isotope ratio analysis provides information about the natural or synthetic origins of scheduled drugs (110)(111)(112)(113)(114)(115)(116)(117)(118)(119)(120), organic and inorganic explosives (76,121,122), petroleum hydrocarbons (such as in ignitable liquids) (65,66,(123)(124)(125)(126), and various other forensic materials (such as fibers, matches, and paint chips) (127)(128)(129)(130)(131). The ability to analyze hard and soft human tissue has also provided helpful investigative leads about the geographic origins of humans, especially in John Doe and Jane Doe cases where fingerprints, DNA, and dental records are not found in databases (132)(133)(134)(135)(136)(137)(138)(139).…”

Section: Stable Isotope Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Forensic Mass Spectrometry

Hoffmann¹,

Jackson

2015

Annual Rev. Anal. Chem.

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Developments in forensic mass spectrometry tend to follow, rather than lead, the developments in other disciplines. Examples of techniques having forensic potential born independently of forensic applications include ambient ionization, imaging mass spectrometry, isotope ratio mass spectrometry, portable mass spectrometers, and hyphenated chromatography-mass spectrometry instruments, to name a few. Forensic science has the potential to benefit enormously from developments that are funded by other means, if only the infrastructure and personnel existed to adopt, validate, and implement the new technologies into casework. Perhaps one unique area in which forensic science is at the cutting edge is in the area of chemometrics and the determination of likelihood ratios for the evaluation of the weight of evidence. Such statistical techniques have been developed most extensively for ignitable-liquid residue analyses and isotope ratio analysis. This review attempts to capture the trends, motivating forces, and likely impact of developing areas of forensic mass spectrometry, with the caveat that none of this research is likely to have any real impact in the forensic community unless: (a) The instruments developed are turned into robust black boxes with red and green lights for positives and negatives, respectively, or (b) there are PhD graduates in the workforce who can help adopt these sophisticated techniques.

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“…Raw data obtained were blank corrected and calibrated against the REF samples by the proprietary instrument software. If necessary, δ-values were drift corrected according to the deviation of measured δ-values from known δ-values of the quality controls [9][10][11][12].…”

Section: Isotopic Calibration and Quality Control Of Ea-irms Measurementmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Two certified standards of known isotopic composition were used to quality control samples, coumarin (δ 18 O-VSMOW =15.83‰, δ 2 H VSMOW =62.56‰) and glucose penta-acetate (δ 18 O-VSMOW =23.94‰, δ 2 H VSMOW =−98.48‰), which have been calibrated against internationally recognised reference materials by Iso-Analytical (Sandbach, Cheshire, UK). Polyethylene (IAEA-CH-7) was also used for quality assurance purposes [9][10][11][12]. The principle was to use span standards which cover the range expected from the samples analysed.…”

Section: Isotopic Calibration and Quality Control Of Tc/ea-irms Measumentioning

confidence: 99%