Department of Genetics, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, Haryana, India.
Anal Methods. 2020 Nov 21;12(43):5150-5159. doi: 10.1039/d0ay01634a. Epub 2020 Nov 2.
Soil contains diverse and complex natural elements having physical, chemical, mineralogical and biological components. Soil being a transferable physical component (it can be transferred from one location to another with the help of shoes, tires, clothes, tools etc.), acts as a tool of forensic investigation to correlate a specific crime scene with criminal suspects. A variety of techniques and combinations of methods can be used to discriminate soil from different geographical locations. The present review highlights various analytical techniques (ATR-FTIR, pyGC-MS, SEM-EDX, ICP-MS/OES and XRD) for soil analysis (colour comparison, texture and particle size determination, density gradient methods and organic matter estimation) and discusses some of the famous cases solved with soil trace evidence. The objective of the present study is to provide an overview of the importance of soil as physical evidence in forensic science based on literature analysis that will help forensic scientists and researchers to select appropriate methods to discriminate different soil samples. This article reviews various analytical techniques used to differentiate soils and provides compiled information regarding soil as trace evidence in order to help academicians, researchers and forensic soil scientists.
土壤含有多种多样且复杂的自然元素，具有物理、化学、矿物和生物成分。土壤作为一种可转移的物理成分（借助鞋子、轮胎、衣服、工具等，可以从一个地点转移到另一个地点），是法医调查的一种手段，可以将特定犯罪现场与犯罪嫌疑人联系起来。可以使用各种技术和方法组合来区分来自不同地理位置的土壤。本综述强调了各种分析技术（ATR-FTIR、pyGC-MS、SEM-EDX、ICP-MS/OES 和 XRD）在土壤分析中的应用（颜色比较、质地和粒径测定、密度梯度方法和有机质估计），并讨论了一些利用土壤痕迹证据解决的著名案例。本研究的目的是基于文献分析，概述土壤作为法庭科学中物证的重要性，这将有助于法庭科学家和研究人员选择适当的方法来区分不同的土壤样本。本文综述了用于区分土壤的各种分析技术，并提供了有关土壤作为痕迹证据的综合信息，以帮助学术界人士、研究人员和法庭土壤科学家。
