Artificial intelligence and thermodynamics help solving arson cases.

In arson cases, evidence such as DNA or fingerprints is often destroyed. One of the most important evidence modalities left is relating fire accelerants to a suspect. When gasoline is used as accelerant, the aim is to find a strong indication that a gasoline sample from a fire scene is related to a sample of a suspect.

A method for forensic gasoline comparison in fire debris samples: A numerical likelihood ratio system.

In many arson cases gasoline is used as a means to start the fire. In this paper results are presented for a likelihood-ratio (LR) system aimed at comparing gasoline traces from fire debris to a reference gasoline. The LR-system is able to deal with disturbing effects caused by burning and exposure to surroundings: pyrolysis products, preferential adsorption and evaporation.

Using Alkylate Components for Classifying Gasoline in Fire Debris Samples.

The characteristic that discriminates gasoline from other ignitable liquids is that it contains high-octane blending components. This study elaborates on the idea that the presence of gasoline in fire debris samples should be based on the detection of known high-octane blending components. The potential of the high-octane blending component alkylate as a characteristic feature for gasoline detection and identification in fire debris samples is explored.

Performance testing of the new AMPAC fire debris bag against three other commercial fire debris bags.

Fire debris evidence is collected and stored in a wide range of containers, including various polymer bags. Four different polymer bags have been investigated, including the NYLON, DUO, ALU, and AMPAC bags. The latter is the successor of the Kapak Fire DebrisPAK™.

Monitoring of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in food supplements containing botanicals and other ingredients on the Dutch market.

Food supplements can contain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has defined 16 priority PAH that are both genotoxic and carcinogenic and identified eight priority PAH (PAH8) or four of these (PAH4) as good indicators of the toxicity and occurrence of PAH in food. The current study aimed to determine benzo[a]pyrene and other EFSA priority PAH in different categories of food supplements containing botanicals and other ingredients.