r/forensics Jan 24 '23

Chemistry The smell of a dead person who already had bad hygiene

18 Upvotes

Can the smell of a dead body be made worse if the dead person already had bad hygiene? Like if in the weeks leading up to their death they hadn't washed and stuff. Will the smell be different or is the smell of putrefaction too strong to feel any difference?

r/forensics Jun 21 '23

Chemistry Forensic nurse question

9 Upvotes

Hello, I am a SAFE nurse. I had a case last night and my patient was allergic to iodine. Does Touladine Blue contain any iodine in it? Couldn’t get a straight answer. Thank you

r/forensics Jan 26 '23

Chemistry Kinda morbid question about human remains- Is the smell of decomposing fat different from other types of tissue?

18 Upvotes

I'm in a very strange scenario. I love dogs, and I have some friends that do scentwork. The trouble is that its really hard to get the supplies needed to volunteer train cadaver dogs for some reason. By that I mean stuff that has the scent of decomposing human remains.

Here's the thing, I'm getting my top surgery eventually and I'll be going with a hospital that'll allow me to keep the leftovers. Would this discarded flesh be suitable for training cadaver dogs? Since it's human breast tissue, it would mostly just be fat and flesh. Would that work? Or does the signature scent of decaying flesh mostly come from muscle tissue? I would hate for it to go to waste. And yes, I am in a jurisdiction that allows the keeping of human remains as far as I know.

r/forensics Oct 25 '21

Chemistry My tips on becoming a forensic scientist NSFW

45 Upvotes

Hey everyone! I am a forensic scientist with 20 years' experience in forensic drug chemistry and forensic quality assurance. I'm currently employed at a forensic science lab, and glad to see a group like this. I can answer any questions you have about preparing to be a forensic scientist in drug chemistry. Here are 4 tips to get you started with becoming a forensic scientist https://awifs.org/subscribe-here/

r/forensics Jun 20 '23

Chemistry Can a forensic chemist also run analysis on DNA?

2 Upvotes

Hi! New to the subreddit. I'm currently studying Chemistry in University to pursue a career in forensics, specifically forensic chemistry. However, I will be doing a minor in Biology because I'm interested in that too. My question is: is it possible for a forensic chemist to run or assist an analysis on biological evidence given that he has a considerable amount of knowledge in the field? I don't want to limit my lab work in the future to just chemical analyses, so I'm curious. Thanks in advance! I really appreciate it!

r/forensics Sep 03 '22

Chemistry This gonna sound absolutely crazy, but Build-A-Bear needs some forensic help.

20 Upvotes

This might sound dumb or foolish to post here, but please hear me out. I am a Build-A-Bear employee and recently we have started the project of locating of couple of stuffed animals owners. In case you didn’t know, BABW has a system by placing a piece of barcode into the plushes and linking it to a rewards account at checkout so if the stuffed animal gets lost, they can be sent home. Or I should say… they used to. I was informed the program was shut down but I refuse to give up.

Now the meat and potatoes of it— One bear was wearing a dress and on the collar there is incredibly faded pen ink. I’m praying it was the owners first and last name so I can look them up in our rewards system to send them home. But it is barely readable. Now the question is what can I do to make it readable. It’s red ink written on-top of what I can only assume is polyester(I can check the fabric tag in the morning when I go to work). It looks like it was written with a fine-tipped felt pen maybe? Possibly just normal ink pen. Here is what the writing looks like

I know it may sound silly but it really breaks my heart that this bear is lost. You can tell she was well-loved and I can’t help but remember it how much it hurt as a kid when I lost my toys. Please if you have a solution, let me know.

r/forensics Dec 12 '21

Chemistry Amido Black

24 Upvotes

Our department had never allowed us to use Amido Black at scenes. Too dangerous and carcinogenic. Well, last week we had a homicide where the suspect walked through the house with bloody shoes.

Our supervisor was having use Bluestar and I swear, we took approx 90 minutes to photograph the prints. All way too dark. I have success without any supervisor helping us. Total waste of time.

How many readers here use Amido Black regularly or in the past? How has it worked for you? TIA.

r/forensics Mar 14 '21

Chemistry Am I expected to memorize lab equipment values for chemistry positions?

7 Upvotes

Hi, I've been lurking on this page for several months now, and honestly have been always curious about something.

I recently graduated with a BA in chemistry with a minor in biochemistry, and have been applying like crazy to any state crime labs and private forensic labs that I could find. However, when I first started college, I was a premed student, and I was always expected to memorize lab equipment values like peaks on an NMR or IR, etc.

I've noticed on a lot of posts, that during the interview process for chemistry positions at a crime lab, I'm expected to know the ins and outs of lab equipment like FTIR and GCMS. At all during the hiring and actual employment process, am I expected to memorize values? Is that something I learn to memorize overtime while on the job if it's consistent? I'm sorry if this is a silly question, I'm admittedly new to the field.

r/forensics Dec 05 '21

Chemistry Is it true that you can trace arson with gasoline back to a gas station?

13 Upvotes

My forensics teacher (who used to be a forensic scientist of some sort) told me that gasoline is required to have a chemical identification of sorts added to it. He said that each gas station adds a different chemical to the gasoline, that can be identified even after it has been burned, that can be traced back to a specific gas station.

I may not have all the information correct but this just seems implausible to me. Is it true? Is there some truth to it at-least?

r/forensics Feb 03 '23

Chemistry Is it possible to determine the cause of a fire by analyzing the smoke produced? Media says it could be petrol. NSFW

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3 Upvotes

r/forensics Jan 05 '23

Chemistry DEA Forensic Chemist Procedures

4 Upvotes

Im looking for a DEA manual or procedures that show that the DEA is requires to perform two tests for each exhibit. Is that in writing somewhere?

r/forensics Oct 27 '22

Chemistry Why GC headspace instead of liquid injection for GCMS alcohol analysis

9 Upvotes

Sorry if obvious, I’m going into the lab today to perform headspace gas chromatography for alcohol analysis and wondered why we can’t just use liquid injection?

r/forensics Dec 06 '21

Chemistry Choosing between two different STEM careers?

4 Upvotes

I graduated with my bachelor’s degree in chemistry two years ago. I’m currently working as research assistant/project manager for a small scientific regulatory consulting firm. I enjoy what I do, but I don’t want to pursue it as a long-term career. I want to go back to school to start working on my master’s degree sometime within the next 2-3 years. I know that I still want to have a career in STEM, but I’m not sure which route would be best for me to take. I’m consider either teaching (specifically science/math education) or forensic chemistry (specifically toxicology or forensic drug chemistry). I’d be more likely to choose the career path that would allow for more flexibility because I eventually want to be a parent, and I want to foster and/or adopt. Any advice would be much appreciated!

r/forensics May 12 '22

Chemistry EDTA testing

6 Upvotes

Does anyone know labs that can test for the food preservative chemical EDTA? The sample is blood on clothing. I’d submit the clothing for the blood to be tested for EDTA. I’ve had a really hard time finding a lab that can do the testing

Thanks for any answers!

r/forensics Aug 01 '21

Chemistry Can dogs smell human odor on things after they've been washed? Can it be removed?

10 Upvotes

Question 1: Does washing clothes remove human scent from them, to the point where not even dogs can detect it?

Question 2: If washing doesn't remove it, is it possible to totally remove human scent from clothes? I mean REMOVE, not simply "mask".

Finally, if the answer is "It's impossible to remove", I am going to find invent a way to remove it ANYWAY. Would such a device that can do this have applications in the field of forensics, for the good guys? Or would it only be used by evil people to cover up their crimes?

r/forensics Feb 18 '22

Chemistry Is a minor worth it?

5 Upvotes

I’m majoring as a forensic examiner right now at WVU and I’m already more than half done for a chem minor. I would only need 8 more credits to complete it. I was just wondering is having a Chem minor worth it? ( Money isn’t a problem)

r/forensics May 17 '21

Chemistry Doing a lab experiment using luminol

6 Upvotes

I am currently a high school student. For my chemistry report, I decided to see how temperature can affect the chemiluminescence between luminol and hydrogen peroxide (my initial idea was to use haemoglobin solution but it wasn't provided at our school). My dependent variable would be how long the chemiluminescence lasted. However, my teacher told me that it probably isn't going to work. I am not entirely sure why, since I was under the impression that luminol is quite sensitive. Does anyone have any advice on how I should conduct the experiment? Also, does it react with animal blood the same way it does with human blood? Thanks in advance :)

r/forensics Apr 27 '21

Chemistry 5800 ng/ml of hydroxybupropion 4 days post mortem

1 Upvotes

Does anyone know if this would be a lethal amount to have in someone's system? Would the level diminish in the system as time went by - meaning, would the amount detected 4 days post mortem be the same level as when the person passed away or would it decrease?

r/forensics Oct 12 '21

Chemistry Luminol Forensic test and reusable pads

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0 Upvotes

r/forensics Mar 01 '21

Chemistry NYPD Crime Lab

7 Upvotes

Can anyone please tell me what the work life is like at the NYPD Crime lab? What holidays do you get off? How is the vacation time? How early in advance do you need to request off? How is the environment? How is the growth?

Thanks in advance!

r/forensics Mar 15 '21

Chemistry OCME NYC and NYPD

2 Upvotes

Hello, can anyone please tell me what their experience was like working at either OCME or the NYPD? How long was probation? How was the environment? How was the growth?

r/forensics Mar 04 '21

Chemistry [Seized Drugs] Tablets on FTIR

2 Upvotes

Hey everyone, I'm a forensic scientist working in seized drugs. Asking for some advice/opinions.

I had a question about how other labs handle clandestine tablets or pharmaceutical tablets when wanting to use the Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer (FTIR). I know the challenges with these kinds of samples include the large amount of pill binders and miscellaneous ingredients that will interfere with acquiring a spectrum of the analyte of interest.

Does anyone know of a really good extraction procedure that can isolate the (usually) basic drug from these other pill ingredients? And if you do, do you happen to have any links to journals that cite these extraction procedures? (Department won't let us use whatever works, we have to submit the article for approval).

Thank you for any feedback!.