Accessing the Probative Value of Physical Evidence at Crimes Scenes with Ambient Mass Spectrometry and Portable Instrumentation

This project will investigate the use of Ambient Mass Spectrometry to help detect/identify items of interest at crime scenes.The proposed technology will allow sensitive analysis of gas, liquid, and solid-phase chemicals, as well as chemical traces on everyday surfaces, at low concentrations with high chemical specificity. Findings from this project will be used to develop and deliver an optimized portable MS instrument prototype to NIJ for evaluation and testing, along with appropriate operational documentation and a spectral library of samples of interest. ca/ncf