The forensic analysis of soil by FTIR with multivariate analysis

Atherton, Thomas, Baron, Mark, Croxton, Ruth , Gonzalez-Rodriguez, Jose, Gonzalez, Rafael and Jimenez, Rebeca (2010) The forensic analysis of soil by FTIR with multivariate analysis. In: VII Colloquium Chemiometricum Mediterraneum 2010, 21-24 June 2010, Granada.

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Abstract

Soil has been utilised in criminal investigations for some time because of its prevalence and transferability. It is usually the physical characteristics that are studied, however the research carried out here aims to make use of the chemical profile of soil samples.
It is thought that the land type a soil sample comes from can lead to a particular chemical profile being present, which may make it possible to identify which land type a sample of evidential soil may have come from such as woodland or river sites. This would limit the possibilities significantly and so narrow down the scope for comparison. It could also be used to limit the areas required to be searched in certain cases. The ideal scenario would be that there was a general profile found for each land type and a characteristic profile for each land type location that could be used to identify each specific type of soil and its location specifically.
The research we are presenting in this work used sieved (2mm) soil samples taken from the top soil layer (about 10cm) that were then analysed using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The spectra obtained were used as raw data in Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Results showed that it was possible to discriminate between soil samples with different soil type and different origins and, with some degree of error, between samples with similar soil type and different origins.

Additional Information:Soil has been utilised in criminal investigations for some time because of its prevalence and transferability. It is usually the physical characteristics that are studied, however the research carried out here aims to make use of the chemical profile of soil samples. It is thought that the land type a soil sample comes from can lead to a particular chemical profile being present, which may make it possible to identify which land type a sample of evidential soil may have come from such as woodland or river sites. This would limit the possibilities significantly and so narrow down the scope for comparison. It could also be used to limit the areas required to be searched in certain cases. The ideal scenario would be that there was a general profile found for each land type and a characteristic profile for each land type location that could be used to identify each specific type of soil and its location specifically. The research we are presenting in this work used sieved (2mm) soil samples taken from the top soil layer (about 10cm) that were then analysed using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The spectra obtained were used as raw data in Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Results showed that it was possible to discriminate between soil samples with different soil type and different origins and, with some degree of error, between samples with similar soil type and different origins.
Keywords:Keywords - Soil Analysis, Forensic Science, Principal Component Analysis, FTIR, Chemiometry
Subjects:F Physical Sciences > F870 Soil Science
F Physical Sciences > F140 Environmental Chemistry
F Physical Sciences > F110 Applied Chemistry
F Physical Sciences > F490 Forensic Science not elsewhere classified
F Physical Sciences > F100 Chemistry
F Physical Sciences > F180 Analytical Chemistry
Divisions:College of Science > School of Life Sciences
ID Code:3216
Deposited On:13 Aug 2010 09:30

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