Barreiro Maria Beatriz, Ferreira Maria Teresa, Makhoul Calil, Morgado Miguel
University of Coimbra, Centre for Functional Ecology, Laboratory of Forensic Anthropology, Department of Life Sciences, Calçada Martim de Freitas, 3000-456, Coimbra, Portugal.
University of Coimbra, Centre for Functional Ecology, Laboratory of Forensic Anthropology, Department of Life Sciences, Calçada Martim de Freitas, 3000-456, Coimbra, Portugal.
J Forensic Leg Med. 2022 Oct;91:102416. doi: 10.1016/j.jflm.2022.102416. Epub 2022 Aug 11.
Bushfires and mass disasters from which result fatal fire victims are two types of events in which Forensic Anthropology acts aiding in the recovery of human remains and the identification of the victims. This is a challenging job since bones that have undergone fire-caused alterations can be unrecognizable. Therefore, collecting evidence at the scene is very important and should be thorough. To evaluate the potential of the application of optical techniques for the recovery and analysis of burnt skeletal material in forensic contexts, this exploratory study focused on analysing reflectance and luminescence properties of bone to differentiate between skeletal remains and debris. The sample includes burnt human bones, as well as non-human bones and debris (like metal, fabric, and others). The reflectance experiments revealed to be quite ineffective, not showing a response pattern that allowed for discrimination between skeletal remains and debris. Three techniques were used to detect luminescence, which included imaging (with a camera), fluorescence spectrometry, and laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy (excitation: 440 nm). Luminescence results were more promising, registering a positive response for several samples, with a general consistency of results between the different methodologies. Nevertheless, burning conditions and individual characteristics (e.g., pathologies) can introduce limitations to the techniques.
森林大火和造成致命火灾受害者的大规模灾难是法医人类学发挥作用协助找回遗体和识别受害者的两类事件。这是一项具有挑战性的工作，因为经过火烧改变的骨骼可能无法辨认。因此，在现场收集证据非常重要且应全面彻底。为评估光学技术在法医环境中用于找回和分析烧焦骨骼材料的潜力，这项探索性研究聚焦于分析骨骼的反射率和发光特性，以区分骨骼残骸和碎片。样本包括烧焦的人类骨骼，以及非人类骨骼和碎片（如金属、织物等）。反射率实验结果显示效果不佳，未呈现出能区分骨骼残骸和碎片的响应模式。使用了三种技术来检测发光，包括成像（用相机）、荧光光谱法和激光诱导荧光光谱法（激发波长：440纳米）。发光结果更有前景，多个样本呈现出阳性反应，不同方法之间的结果总体一致。然而，燃烧条件和个体特征（如病理状况）可能会给这些技术带来局限性。
