The Importance Of Trace Analysis

Trace analysis is the examination of any evidence that can be transferred between objects when they touch, which could include glass, fibers/fabrics, and hair (forensicsciencesimplified.org). As science and technology have evolved over the past seventy years, how has the way trace evidence is analyzed changed and evolved to meet the new standards as well? Have these new advancements changed the way that the evidence is collected? These are all questions that have been dancing around in my head since I read David Owen’s book, Hidden Evidence: Forty true crimes and how forensic evidence helped solve them. With a goal of being a trace analyst in the future, this was an opportunity that I could not pass up. Through my research, I have found multiple

Later on in my research, I had the pleasure of being able to interview Daniel Davison, a trace analyst that has worked in the field for the past twenty years. As a student of the forensic science class that is offered at Southview, I have had access to a multitude of different textbooks and informative websites pertaining to anything that is grouped under the broad term of forensic science. One of these sources was the website, forensicsciencesimplified.org, which contains information on the broad realm of forensic science and its subcategories and includes my main interest: trace analysis. As I discovered more information about new discoveries, I wanted to know more about the processes needed to utilize these techniques. To do this, I searched for videos that could teach me more about the specific topics I was curious about. One video was created by Khan Academy, and discussed the process used to break up gas composition in the form of gas chromatography. Throughout the years of Forensic Science, the technology and techniques people exercise when utilizing the technology and analyzing the evidence are continuously

In H. A. Laitinen’s thesis, he detailed new processes used for analyzing new evidence with electroanalytical chemistry: “Electroanalytical chemistry since 1950 has moved in several directions, including (a) ion selective electrodes, (b) other electrochemical sensors, and (c) combinations of electrochemical and optical techniques.” Electroanalytical chemistry is a form of chemistry involving electrical current, which can be measured using two different ways, potential (volts) and current (amps) (Chapter 22-Introduction to Electroanalytical Chemistry). This was a major breakthrough in the field as it made the process more reliable and the analysis was completed in a faster time. As the 1960s approached, ion selective electrodes were starting to be utilized. Ion selective electrodes selectively respond to different ions in the presence of different ions, these measure the gases and ions that are in a solution. The pH probe is the most common of all of the ion electrodes. Some other ion electrodes can include fluoride, cadmium, and bromide. These electrodes are used to determine different substances that are dissolved in solution. While gas chromatography was discovered in the early 1940s, it was not published until 1948, after World War II. The discovery was not widely accepted or acknowledged until the