An Easy to Implement Approach for Laboratories to Visualize Particle Spread During the Handling and Analysis of Drug Evidence.

ABSTRACT: Recent work has shown that detectable levels of drugs exists on nearly all surfaces within a forensic laboratory - especially within the drug chemistry unit. This is an expected occurrence due to the handling and opening of drug evidence that contains powder material. The process of opening evidence, which produces aerosolized particulate that can settle on surfaces throughout the lab, has never been visualized. This work presents the first attempt to visualize the spread of particulate throughout the laboratory during the analysis of drug evidence and introduces an easy to implement approach laboratories can use to evaluate their specific protocols. By creating two simulated bricks of drugs that contained fluorescent particles, the spread of particulate was able to be monitored throughout

SUBMITTER: Sisco E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7580037 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature