Identification and analysis of man-made geological product particles to aid forensic investigation of provenance in the built environment

Pirrie, Duncan; Pidduck, Allan J.; Crean, Daniel E.; Nicholls, Timothy; Awbery, Roy P.

doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2019.109974

Cited by 16 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…In forensic analysis, for an unknown soil sample, scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive Xray spectrometry (SEM-EDX) allows recognition of the presence or absence of man-made particles, including concrete and cement. 106 Therefore, automated mineralogy is amenable to distinguish and recognise the particles derived from common construction material classes. Indubitably, all these techniques can provide valuable information for elemental and phase identication and quantication in cement, which can be very benecial for an overall picture in provenance study.…”

Section: Other Techniquesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Provenancing of cement using elemental analyses and isotope techniques – the state-of-the-art and future perspectives

Kazlagić

Vogl

Gluth

et al. 2021

J. Anal. At. Spectrom.

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Section: Other Techniquesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Provenancing of cement using elemental analyses and isotope techniques – the state-of-the-art and future perspectives

Kazlagić

Vogl

Gluth

et al. 2021

J. Anal. At. Spectrom.

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“…Geoscientists have identified the location of buried objects, such as chemical drums, storage tanks, vehicles, waste disposal trenches, bodies, drugs, precious metals and weapons, in addition to human bodies (Ruffell and McKinley, 2008;Pringle et al 2012;Donnelly et al, 2019). Identifying the geological characteristics of rocks, used as weapons, has also led to the source location (provenance) of the rocks to be identified (Pirrie et al 2019). Soil and other geological materials found on murder victims have been used to determine the location of the murder, in particular when the murder occurred in one location and the body had been moved to another location (Proctor et al 2019).…”

Section: Searchmentioning

confidence: 99%

A proposal for a White Paper on Geoethics in Forensic Geology

Dawson

Maggio

McKinley

et al. 2021

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This paper outlines the construction of a White Paper on Geoethics in Forensic Geology. It focuses on forensic geology, although it also relates to the wider sphere of the forensic geosciences. Forensic geology is rapidly evolving to provide assistance in police investigations and in criminal and civil courts with providing scientific advice and evidence, but there also should be associated clear guidelines to benefit both the practitioner and the justice system. Examples of where forensic geology delivers to society in a vital way are required and also where potential malpractice could happen. The paper discusses where forensic geology should pursue social justice in compliance with current legal systems. In order to achieve this goal, it outlines the main areas that we suggest should be developed within the discipline: the competence of the scientist in forensic geology; the creation of best practice guidelines; the establishing of clear duties of the expert in forensic geology; and consideration of ethical aspects in forensic geological activities and ethical aspects in communicating geoscience evidence. When developing geoethics within forensic geology, the following practices were identified as of prime importance: improved standardization of methods; the use of appropriate methods and/or combination of complementary methods; greater clarity of approach used for the location of areas of interest; collection and recovery of evidence; scene examination and sample collection evaluation of data; construction and appropriate use of databases, background information, documentation, cartography and communication of forensic data; and summary of evidence and acknowledgement and consideration of uncertainty and bias. Honesty, integrity, respect, transparency, competence and reliability are vital for the forensic geoscientist to adhere to. Raising the ethical profile of the forensic geoscience profession aims to pave the way for forensic geoscientists to be empowered now and into the future to serve society: acting responsibly and adopting effective ethical codes is vitally important for a safe society. This paper highlights the necessity to hold urgent discussions on the ethical and social implications of forensic geology and their potential repercussions on societal justice. Forensic geology is a very useful tool, but like any other tool in human hands, it presupposes responsibility in its application. Professionalism and honesty in forensic geology are fundamental to assure the public that geoscientists involved have the highest scientific respectability, social credibility and community respect for their role to help pursue judicial truth. The aim of this draft White Paper is to stimulate an open and informed debate on geoethics.

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“…Since the properties of concretes are dominated by their key compound, cement [2], devising a way to determine its origin, known as provenancing, is of great importance. Provenance studies of concrete and cement are required for failure research, damage assessment, and resulting liability issues related to concrete structures, and they are also important in forensic science [3][4][5][6][7][8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of a sample preparation procedure for Sr isotope analysis of Portland cements

et al. 2022

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The 87Sr/86Sr isotope ratio can, in principle, be used for provenancing of cement. However, while commercial cements consist of multiple components, no detailed investigation into their individual 87Sr/86Sr isotope ratios or their influence on the integral 87Sr/86Sr isotope ratio of the resulting cement was conducted previously. Therefore, the present study aimed at determining and comparing the conventional 87Sr/86Sr isotope ratios of a diverse set of Portland cements and their corresponding Portland clinkers, the major component of these cements. Two approaches to remove the additives from the cements, i.e. to measure the conventional 87Sr/86Sr isotopic fingerprint of the clinker only, were tested, namely, treatment with a potassium hydroxide/sucrose solution and sieving on a 11-µm sieve. Dissolution in concentrated hydrochloric acid/nitric acid and in diluted nitric acid was employed to determine the 87Sr/86Sr isotope ratios of the cements and the individual clinkers. The aim was to find the most appropriate sample preparation procedure for cement provenancing, and the selection was realised by comparing the 87Sr/86Sr isotope ratios of differently treated cements with those of the corresponding clinkers. None of the methods to separate the clinkers from the cements proved to be satisfactory. However, it was found that the 87Sr/86Sr isotope ratios of clinker and cement generally corresponded, meaning that the latter can be used as a proxy for the clinker 87Sr/86Sr isotope ratio. Finally, the concentrated hydrochloric acid/nitric acid dissolution method was found to be the most suitable sample preparation method for the cements; it is thus recommended for 87Sr/86Sr isotope analyses for cement provenancing. Graphical abstract

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Identification and analysis of man-made geological product particles to aid forensic investigation of provenance in the built environment

Cited by 16 publications

References 13 publications

Provenancing of cement using elemental analyses and isotope techniques – the state-of-the-art and future perspectives

Provenancing of cement using elemental analyses and isotope techniques – the state-of-the-art and future perspectives

A proposal for a White Paper on Geoethics in Forensic Geology

Development of a sample preparation procedure for Sr isotope analysis of Portland cements

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