Solving a Mock Arsenic-Poisoning Case Using Atomic Spectroscopy

Abstract

A new upper-level undergraduate atomic spectroscopy laboratory procedure has been developed that presents a realistic problem to students and asks them to assist in solving it. Students are given arsenic-laced soda samples from a mock crime scene. From these samples, they are to gather evidence to help prosecute a murder suspect. The samples are analyzed by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy or by atomic absorbance spectroscopy to determine the content of specific metal impurities. By statistical comparison of the samples' composition, the students determine if the soda samples can be linked to arsenic found in the suspect's home. As much as possible, the procedures and interpretations are developed by the students. Particular emphasis is placed on evaluating the limitations and capabilities of the analytical method with respect to the demands of the problem.

Teaching Experimental Design Using a GC-MS Analysis of Cocaine on Money: A Cross-Disciplinary Laboratory

“…In order to introduce experimental designs and to develop the students' analytical skills, an optimization of the procedure is initially conducted for three parameters: extraction method-methanol versus HCl/NH 3 /SPE; time of extraction-one half versus one minute; and GC-MS detection method-total ion chromatography versus extracted ion chromatography. 1 Additional sample parameters added to the design include denomination and age of the currency. Percent recoveries of cocaine from solution are measured by doing successive extractions from a single bill, and detection limits of the method are determined from both the uncertainty of the intercept of the calibration curve and from the background levels.…”

“…This objective is most easily accomplished when the students have a genuine interest in the material. Forensic analysis of drug money appeals to a wide audience and the lessons encountered are appropriate for undergraduate courses in analytical and environmental chemistry or forensic science (1). Such analyses also offer an opportunity to segue to the social sciences by looking at factors that affect drug use and by initiating discussions of what constitutes proof in a legal versus a scientific sense (2).…”

Analysis of Natural Materials’ Adsorption Efficiency Relating Co(II) Using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy: Laboratory Experiment

“…Many publications for students contain descriptions of laboratory experiments through which the students gain practical knowledge with a variety of analytical techniques. In this way, they have an opportunity to solve research issues which are interesting and also relevant for their own lives. − A generally acceptable technique to determine metals in alimentary samples, − multivitamin tablets, or daily products − is atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS), which is based on the absorption of optical radiation by free atoms.…”

What Is in Your Wallet? Quantitation of Drugs of Abuse on Paper Currency with a Rapid LC–MS/MS Method

“…Due to the highly addictive nature of illicit drugs, they are closely monitored throughout the United States and much of the developing world . Forensic analysis of drugs as a lab experiment appeals to a wide audience of students in undergraduate analytical, instrumental, and environmental chemistry or forensic science . The analysis of cocaine and other drugs on domestic international paper currency offers an opportunity for physical science and social science to interface in the classroom …”

“…1 Forensic analysis of drugs as a lab experiment appeals to a wide audience of students in undergraduate analytical, instrumental, and environmental chemistry or forensic science. 2 The analysis of cocaine and other drugs on domestic international paper currency offers an opportunity for physical science and social science to interface in the classroom. 3 High performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC−MS/MS) is a technique that has yet to be incorporated in the undergraduate colloquia of most colleges.…”