Should inorganic or organic gunshot residues be analysed first?

Details

Ressource 1Download: Redouté Minzière & al. (2023) How to perform a combined analysis of IGSR and OGSR.pdf (6164.96 [Ko])
State: Public
Version: Final published version
License: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
Serval ID
serval:BIB_6DD6817019F2
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
Should inorganic or organic gunshot residues be analysed first?
Journal
Forensic science international
Author(s)
Redouté Minzière V., Robyr O., Weyermann C.
ISSN
1872-6283 (Electronic)
ISSN-L
0379-0738
Publication state
Published
Issued date
07/2023
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
348
Pages
111600
Language
english
Notes
Publication types: Journal Article
Publication Status: ppublish
Abstract
Gunshot residues (GSR) collected during the investigation of firearm-related incidents can provide useful information for the reconstruction of the events. Two main types of GSR traces can be targeted by forensic scientists, the inorganic (IGSR) and the organic GSR (OGSR). Up to now, forensic laboratories have mainly focused on the detection of inorganic particles on the hands and clothes of a person of interest using carbon stubs analysed by scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (SEM/EDS). Several approaches have been proposed to also analyse the organic compounds since they might bring additional information for the investigation. However, implementing such approaches might disrupt the detection of IGSR (and vice versa depending on the applied sequence of analysis). In this work, two sequences were compared for the combined detection of both types of residues. One carbon stub was used for collection, and the analysis was performed either by targeting the IGSR or the OGSR first. The aim was to evaluate which one allows maximum recovery of both types of GSR while minimising losses that might occur at different stages of the analysis process. SEM/EDS was used for the detection of IGSR particles while an ultra-high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) was used for the analysis of OGSR compounds. Extracting OGSR first required the implementation of an extraction protocol that did not interfere with the IGSR particles present on the stub. Both sequences allowed good recovery of the inorganic particles since no significant difference was observed in the detected concentrations. However, OGSR concentrations were lower after IGSR analysis than before for two compounds (ethyl and methylcentralite). Thus, it is advised to extract rapidly the OGSR before or after IGSR analysis to avoid losses during the storage and analysis processes. The data also indicated that there was a low correlation between IGSR and OGSR highlighting the potential of a combined detection and analysis of both types of GSR.
Keywords
Pathology and Forensic Medicine, Law, Firearm discharge residue (FDR), Forensic science, Inorganic particles, LC-MS, Organic compounds, SEM-EDX, Sequential analysis
Pubmed
Open Access
Yes
Create date
10/02/2023 10:07
Last modification date
04/07/2023 6:54
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