FORENSIC SCIENCES: CRIMINALISTICS - Bio Medical Forensics

constitutes reliability, relevancy, and individuality. They will attempt to
answer many of the questions above. The salient question in this session
remains: To meet the standards of Daubert, are the conclusions in
pattern evidence comparisons reliable and relevant because they are
based on objective, quantifiable, validated scientific methods and data?
The attendees in the audience will determine if their responses withstand
“rigorous cross examination.”
Daubert, Relevancy and Reliability, Error Rate
B131 Forensic Review Board Validation of the
Complex Identification Procedure (CIP)
Methodology for Identifying the Nature
and Origins of Platinum Group Metal
Production Materials
Robert D. Koons, PhD*, Counterterrorism and Forensic Science
Research Unit, Federal Bureau of Investigation Academy, 2501
Research Parkway, Quantico, VA 22135
After attending this presentation, attendees will have an
understanding of the precious metal manufacturing processes in Russia
and South Africa and of the importance of efforts being made to identify
the source of stolen platinum group element (PGE)-containing materials
used in international money laundering schemes. This paper will give a
brief overview of the CIP analysis procedure and will discuss a Forensic
Review Board’s experiences in an international effort to validate the
procedure both analytically and forensically.
The results of attempts by an international panel of experts in
evaluating methods developed in Russia to help them meet European
legal requirements will be presented. In addition to assisting in tracing
the source of PGE materials, this project provides experiences that will
enable increased acceptance of protocols across international legal
systems.
A number of leading Russian scientific research institutes (Mining
and Metallurgical Company “Norilsk Nickel”, Institute of Criminalistics
of the Russian Federal Security Service, State Research Institute for
Rare Metals, and Russian Federal Centre of Forensic Science) have
developed a combined methodology, using bulk and particle SEM-EDX,
ICP-OES, ICP-MS, and XRD to characterise intermediate materials
from the beneficiation process of PGE-bearing ores. It has been claimed
that this methodology provides such a high degree of discrimination that
samples can be traced back to their specific point of origin in the
beneficiation process. This “Complex Procedure for Identification of
the Nature and Source of Origin of Precious Metal containing Products
of Mining and Metallurgical Operations” is referred to as the Complex
Identification Procedure, or CIP.
The CIP uses several diagnostic features to determine the nature
and source of origin of an unknown PGE-bearing material:
• Bulk elemental composition of the substance, including
impurities is measured first by SEM-EDX and then by ICP-
OES and ICP-MS for 30 and 18 elements, respectively
• Phase composition of a substance, i.e. chemical composition
of compounds present in this substance, is measured by XRD;
• Distribution of particle types in accordance with their
elemental composition is determined using SEM-EDX for
determination of particle compositions and morphologies.
Several legal actions have been initiated in Western Europe against
companies suspected of dealing in stolen PGE materials. In order for the
CIP results and expert opinions derived from them to be accepted in
future court proceedings, it was thought to be necessary to have the
method validated analytically and forensically by a well respected
independent international body. A project was initiated under the
auspices of ENFSI (European Network of Forensic Science Institutes) to
this end with support from the Ministry of Justice of the Russian
Federation and the International Platinum Association (IPA). The
objectives of the project are twofold: to peer review the CIP in order for
the CIP expert results to be accepted in court and to provide advice on
possible improvements.
The Forensic Review Board consists of nine members from
national forensic institutes in Great Britain, Germany, Sweden, The
Netherlands, The United States, South Africa, and The Russian
Federation. A non-forensic member of the Board is Prof Yuri Karpov,
Deputy Director of the Russian Research and Projecting Institute of the
Rare Metals Industry “GIREDMET” and member of the Russian
Academy of Science. Tasks of the Board are to collect information,
discuss and report results, make decisions, contribute to and comment on
documents and (interim) reports as used by and produced in the project,
advise on the methods used and ultimately decide whether the CIP set of
methods are suitable for their intended forensic application. Six
industrial and scientific advisers assist the Forensic Review Board by
providing specialist information based on their specific knowledge,
information and experience from the perspective of the PGM industry.
The Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research
(TNO) has been contracted to perform the analytical verification of the
CIP and their report will be an appendix to the final project report.
The Board has supervised TNO’s analytical studies of the CIP,
evaluated world-wide geological data pertinent to sourcing PGE-bearing
ores, and performed their own collaborative analytical and statistical
studies of the protocol and the reference database. Up-to-date results of
Board activities will be presented. It is expected that this project will be
completed at about the time of the AAFS meeting.
Platinum Group Elements, Method Validation, Forensic Review
Board
B132 Method Development and Application of
High Resolution ICP-MS (HR-ICP-MS)
and Laser Ablation (LA-HR-ICP-MS) for
Elemental Analysis of Bone, Teeth, Nail,
and Hair Samples
Waleska Castro, MS*, María A. Pérez, BS, and Jose R. Almirall, PhD,
Florida International University, Department of Chemistry and
Biochemistry, 11200 SW 8th Street, CP 194, Miami, FL 33199
The goal of this presentation is to show the method development of
the elemental analysis and its application to real samples of bone, teeth,
hair and nails using solution based and laser ablation with HR-ICP-MS.
This presentation will impact the forensic science community by
demonstrating the development and application of robust analytical
methods for the detection and quantification of trace elemental analysis
in bone, hair, teeth and nail matrices will lead to a better understanding
of the potential utility of these measurements in forensic chemical
analyses.
Biological matrices such as bone, teeth, hair, and nails have
captured the attention of the forensic scientist during the last decades,
since they are commonly found in crime scenes and/or massive burials.
The elemental composition of such matrices can provide key
information of environmental exposure at working places, heavy metal
poisoning, discrimination between individuals and for provenance
purposes. It is possible to follow up elements naturally found in the body
and their concentrations by analyzing hair, [1] nails, [2] and bones or teeth. [3,
4] Recent applications of elemental composition of such matrices to
human authentication [5] have resulted in the resolution of crimes. Some
trace elements in bones (such as strontium) can act as geographical
markers and can suggest the origin of a person either in the early ages or
in the last years of his life. [6-8] Therefore biological matrices play an
important role in the forensic analysis of a crime scene. The
409 * Presenting Author