The Daily Bulletin Archive

Nicole Martin, a graduate student in the forensic science program at Buffalo State, will present a literature seminar, "Forensic Applications of Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry: A Growing Field," at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, October 18, in Science Building 272. The seminar abstract is as follows:

Isotope analysis is continuously being incorporated into many of the forensic disciplines and is rapidly evolving. Isotopes may serve as a type of chemical "signature" within various materials and can indicate the origin and history of those materials. In the analysis of evidence in a forensic case, this information may be crucial. Examples of types of forensic evidence that may be analyzed using this method may include explosives, hair, soil, bone, and drug samples. Mass spectrometry typically serves as the core method of isotope analysis; however, it is the application of isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) that is currently of interest in the forensic field. The growth of the interest in isotope ratio analysis has prompted a Forensic Isotope Mass Spectrometry (FIRMS) Network to help establish standards and procedures concerning isotope ratio analysis within forensic science. An overview of FIRMS, possible standards and procedures, recent studies, and admissibility in the courts will be discussed.

References

Carter, J. F., Hill, J. C., Doyle, S., Locke, C. (2009). Results of four inter-laboratory comparisons provided by the Forensic Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (FIRMS) Network. J. Science & Justice 49, 127–137.

Ehleringer, J. R., Matheson, S. M. (2010). Stable isotopes and courts. Utah Law Review 2, 385–442.

Gentile, N., Besson, L., Pazos, D., Delémont, O. and Esseiva, P. (2011). IRMS in forensic science: Proposals for a methodological approach. Forensic Sci. Int. 212, 260–271.

NicDaeid, N. and Meier-Augenstein, W. (2008). Letter to the editor: Feasibility of source identification of seized street drug samples by exploiting differences in isotopic composition at natural abundance level by GC/MS as compared to isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS). Forensic Sci. Int. 174, 259–261.

This seminar is partially sponsored by the Auxiliary Services Grant Allocation Committee, the Vice President for Student Affairs Office, and the Faculty-Student Association.