ENVIRONMENTAL

FORENSICS

TO:-NIDHI HOODA
BY:-NITESH BHATIYA
ROLL.NO.:-1323
 WHAT IS ENVIR0NMENTAL
FORENSICS??
 It is the application defensible scientific methods to address questions related to
release histories and sources of contamination in the environment. It generally
involves the reconstruction of past environmental events , such as the timing ,
types , amounts and sources of chemical releases to the environment.
 Questions that environmental forensics seeks to answer are:-
 Who caused the contamination?
 When did the contamination occur?
 How did the contamination occur?(For example: was it an accidental spill or a
series of routine operating releases?)
 Are the test results valid? Is there evidence of fraud?
 What levels of contamination have peoples been exposed to?
• There is a multitude of forensic techniques available for
contaminant , age dating and source identification
including identification of the manufacturer of a
particular product , chemical additives & impurities ,
chemical profiling , degradation modelling , corrosion
models etc.
 Environmental forensics investigations frequently deal with the historical release of
contaminants. Generally there are two sources of information in conducting an investigation ,
namely:
 The documentary record ,including statements by witness or other knowledgeable individuals ,
aerial photograph ,insurance maps , and electronic information copied from computer hard
drives.
 Measurement or sampling data.
Once the historical information has been acquired and evaluated , one can then identify
which forensic technique is most suited for answering the forensic questions .
The most successful forensic investigations rely on the approach of selecting the most applicable
techniques from numerous methodologies.
ENVIRONMENTAL FORENSICS-SCIENCE
IN LEGAL DISPUTES AND BEYOND
 CRIMINAL VERSES ENVIRONMENTAL
FORENSIC

• Although criminal and environmental forensics are distinct fields , they have
some main common elements. They are both triggered by crimes , they both
use scientific investigative methods to identify and confirm responsible parties.
• The distinction between the two forensic fields resides basically in the types of
crimes including the criminal means. While criminal forensics applies to
human crimes , environmental forensics refers to environmental crimes , in
other words, environmental contamination episodes.
 APPLICATIONS
1. For identifying the source of identification.
2. Identify manufacturer of a particular product.
3. Developing the probability that chemical exposure caused
manifest or latent injuries.
4. Distinguishing between anthropogenic and anthropomorphic
contaminants.
5. For marine oil , determining the spill source.
 TECHNIQUES USED IN ENVIRONMENTAL
FORENSICS

Underground storage tank corrosion model

Tank corrosion models can provide probability statics to produce a range of
likely release corrosion pitting and perforation leak data is normally
distributed.
Corrosion rate of an underground storage tank is influenced by the thickness
of the metal and the electrical resistivity of the soil.
Soil measurement used in underground storage tank corrosion model including
the following:
• Soil moisture content
• Soil resistivity
• pH
• Bicarbonate concentration
• Water soluble chloride and sulfate concentration.
Commercial availability of a chemical
To age date of a contaminant release and sometimes to distinguish between potentially
responsible parties.
ISOTOPS ANALYSIS:-
It is the identification of isotopic signature ,the abundance of certain stable isotopes
and chemical elements within organic and inorganic compounds.
It can be used to understand the flow of energy through a food web, to
reconstruct past environmental and climatic conditions, to investigate human
and animal diets in the past , for food authentification and a variety of other
physical , geological , chemical processes.
Stable isotope ratios are measured using mass spectrometry which separates
the different isotopes of an element on the basis of their mass to charge (m/q)
ratio.