Preservation of fibre contact evidence

The Chemical Sciences Section deals with a wide variety of cases, with particular emphasis on offences against the person and against property. The work of the section is broadly divided into three categories:

• Trace Evidence Examination;
• Miscellaneous Chemical Investigation;
• Fire Investigation.

In addition to laboratory work, the professional staff of the section are also responsible for attending suspicious fire scenes to establish the cause of fire.

Scanning electron microscope

While the miscellaneous chemical and liquor analysis work areas involve mainly straightforward analytical work, trace evidence examination is often painstaking and labour intensive. This area of work includes the examination of such trace materials as textile fibres, glass, paint and soil. Although costly in terms of manpower and working time, trace evidence frequently plays a major part in the evidence produced in major crime investigations, justifying the input and commitment apportioned to it.

	Automatic thermal desorption - gas chromatograph - mass spectrometer

Key instruments in the section :

• Automatic thermal desorption - gas chromatograph - mass spectrometer
• Fourier transform infrared ¡V microscope
• GRIM3 Glass refractive index measurement system
• Scanning electron microscope with energy dispersive detector