Minzière, Virginie Redouté, Gassner, Anne‐Laure, Gallidabino, Matteo, Roux, Claude and Weyermann, Céline (2023) The relevance of gunshot residues in forensic science. WIREs Forensic Science, 5 (1). e1472. ISSN 2573-9468
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Text (Final published version)
WIREs Forensic Science - 2022 - Minzi re - The relevance of gunshot residues in forensic science.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives 4.0. Download (5MB) | Preview |
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Text (Advance online version)
WIREs Forensic Science - 2022 - Minzi re - The relevance of gunshot residues in forensic science.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives 4.0. Download (5MB) | Preview |
Abstract
Gunshot residues (GSR) are routinely exploited by forensic scientists in the investigation of firearm-related events. While many new techniques are daily reported in the literature for the analysis of GSR, there is still a significant lack of data on the transfer, persistence, and prevalence of GSR. Such fundamental knowledge is essential to fully exploit the information potential of GSR for investigation or in Court. This article provides an overview of the relevant questions related to GSR, more particularly to infer about the trace's origin (i.e., is it from a firearm discharge?) and the activity that caused transfer (e.g., primary, secondary, or subsequent transfer). GSR production and composition will be briefly described, considering both inorganic and organic components. Then, the available knowledge about the primary transfer, the secondary transfer, and the persistence of GSR will be outlined, as well as the prevalence (background level) of the targeted elements and/or compounds in the environment, more particularly on the hands of people unrelated to firearm incidents. Finally, the methods developed for the collection, analysis, and interpretation of GSR will be discussed. A holistic approach combining fundamental forensic science knowledge about GSR transfer, persistence, and prevalence together with other available information is discussed as a path forward to increase the relevance and value of the GSR trace in practice.
| Item Type: | Article |
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| Additional Information: | Funding information: The authors wish to thank Dr Jean-Luc Gremaud (former head of the judicial police of Lausanne city in Switzerland), Sébastien Charles (GSR forensic expert at the National Institute for Criminalistics and Criminology in Belgium), Olivier Robyr (Technical director and analyst engineer at Microscan Service SA) and Prof. Paul K. Kirkbride (Flinders University, Australia) for very interesting discussions about firearm-related casework and research. They also want to thank Julia Fischer (forensic scientist at the regional police of Basel-Landschaft in Switzerland) for providing a photograph of the distribution of GSR on a targeted cotton fabric. Virginie Redouté Minzière, Anne-Laure Gassner, and Céline Weyermann also wish to thank the Swiss National Science Foundation for its support (Grants 10521A_165608 and 105211_188898). Open access funding provided by Universite de Lausanne. |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | analysis, background level, detection, firearm discharge residue, forensic science, GSR, interpretation, persistence, prevalence, trace, transfer |
| Subjects: | F400 Forensic and Archaeological Science |
| Department: | Faculties > Health and Life Sciences > Applied Sciences |
| Depositing User: | Elena Carlaw |
| Date Deposited: | 25 Aug 2022 14:02 |
| Last Modified: | 25 Jan 2023 10:00 |
| URI: | https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/49959 |
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