Forensic Analysis of Stains on Fabric Using Direct Analysis in Real-time Ionization with High-Resolution Accurate Mass-Mass Spectrometry.

A rapid technique using direct analysis in real-time (DART) ambient ionization coupled to a high-resolution accurate mass-mass spectrometer (HRAM-MS) was employed to analyze stains on an individual's pants suspected to have been involved in a violent crime. The victim was consuming chocolate ice cream at the time of the attack, and investigators recovered the suspect's pants exhibiting splatter stains. Liquid chromatography with mass spectral detection (LC-MS) and stereoscopic light microscopy (SLM) were also utilized in this analysis.

Analysis of Hypodermic Needles and Syringes for the Presence of Blood and Polydimethylsiloxane (Silicone) Utilizing Microchemical Tests and Infrared Spectroscopy.

Suspect hypodermic needles and syringes were seized from an unlicensed individual who was allegedly injecting patients with silicone (polydimethylsiloxane [PDMS]) for cosmetic enhancement. Since control syringe barrels and needles often contain an interfering PDMS lubricant, a risk for false positives of foreign PDMS exists. The focus of this report was to minimize this risk and determine a quick and reliable test for the presence of blood in PDMS matrices.

A multidisciplinary approach for the analysis of an adulterated dietary supplement where the active pharmaceutical ingredient was embedded in the capsule shell.

Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) microspectroscopic imaging, Raman microspectroscopy, optical microscopy and high performance liquid chromatography with mass spectrometric (LC/MS) detection were employed to examine a dietary supplement adulterated with an undeclared active pharmaceutical ingredient (API). While a trace level of the API was detected in the capsule contents, a higher concentration of API was found in the capsule shell, which indicated the use of an unconventional manufacturing process to hide the API and thus avoid detection. This study demonstrates the need for a multidisciplinary approach to provide a complete assessment of a suspect adulterated dietary supplement.

Evaluation of the renal effects of experimental feeding of melamine and cyanuric acid to fish and pigs.

Objective: To determine whether renal crystals can be experimentally induced in animals fed melamine or the related triazine compound cyanuric acid, separately or in combination, and to compare experimentally induced crystals with those from a cat with triazine-related renal failure.

Animals: 75 fish (21 tilapia, 24 rainbow trout, 15 channel catfish, and 15 Atlantic salmon), 4 pigs, and 1 cat that was euthanatized because of renal failure.

Procedures: Fish and pigs were fed a target dosage of melamine (400 mg/kg), cyanuric acid (400 mg/kg), or melamine and cyanuric acid (400 mg of each compound/kg) daily for 3 days and were euthanatized 1, 3, 6, 10, or 14 days after administration ceased.

Outbreak of food-borne illness associated with plant material containing raphides.

Background: Many botanicals, particularly ornamental house-plants, contain crystals of calcium oxalate called raphides. Raphides have known toxic effects when chewed, including painful edema, vesicle formation, and dysphagia. We report a food-borne illness outbreak associated with ingestion of raphides.

A method for the determination of syringe needle punctures in rubber stoppers using stereoscopic light microscopy.

The ability to accurately determine the number of syringe needle penetration holes through the rubber stoppers in pharmaceutical vials and rubber septa in intravenous (i.v.) line and bag ports has been a critical factor in a number of forensic cases involving the thefts of controlled substances or suspected homicide by lethal injection.