Journal of Forensic Chemistry and Toxicology

The study aimed to determine the sensitivity of urine on different surfaces at varied temperatures using presumptive and confirmatory tests. Presumptive tests, like odour tests and microscopic inspection, are used to detect the presence of urine. Confirmatory test, like Urea nitrate Test and Creatinine Test, are used to detect the presence of urine. Samples of a range of surfaces, such as walls, plywood, cloth, and marble tile, were taken, and analysed at intervals between Day 1 and Day 28. Urine’s ability to persist and be detected over time on various surfaces is meant to be established, providing important information for forensic analysis. The findings of the study demonstrated that temperature fluctuations significantly affected sensitivity. Moderate temperatures (15°C to 25°C) while at Extreme temperatures, particularly at 40°C to 10°C, the sensitivity was marginally decreased.

Fuel adulteration remains a persistent challenge across the Indian subcontinent, driven by episodic price surge and supply constraint and turpentine oil is a versatile essential oil with variety of uses and applications in industrial, medicinal, and personal care fields. Among various illicit practices, the substitution or dilution of turpentine oil with kerosene has emerged as a prevalent method employed by unscrupulous vendors to maximize profit margins. The paper highlights the detection and characterization of the adulteration of turpentine oil with kerosene through a multi-tiered analytical approach integrating with conventional and advanced techniques. A comprehensive suite of analytical methods was employed to identify kerosene adulteration in turpentine oil. Preliminary screening involved physical property assessment (density, refractive index and qualitative chemical tests. These were followed by Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) for component separation and Gas Chromatography (GC) for precise identification and quantification of kerosene-specific aliphatic and aromatic compounds. Recent innovation like surface Plasmon Resonance Biosensors and Ultrasonic helical Waveguide Sensors have significantly enhanced the sensitivity, specificity, and operational efficiency of fuel adulteration detection. The integration of traditional and advanced analytical modalities provides a robust framework for forensic and regulatory surveillance and support scalable deployment in field and laboratory settings.

The prevalence of Substandard and falsified medicines leads to severe toxic impact on the health of the general public especially in low and middle-income countries. Substandard and falsified medical products pose significant threats to public health globally showing inefficacy in treatment of illness, because of presence of incorrect ingredients or incorrect dosages. These drugs are not only showing direct harmful effects to patients being of falsified nature but also leads to fatality in children. These substandard drugs may be indirectly harmful through increased risk of antimicrobial resistance and thereby affecting every region of the world in today’s scenario resulted in loss of confidence in medicines, healthcare providers and health systems. The present article is aimed to create awareness regarding the toxicity of substandard and falsified drugs onto the public-health. This article also shed light on the types of formulation defects that can occur along with the consequences of consumption of substandard drugs. For the improvement of quality, there must an eye check onto the manufacturing practices in accordance with global accepted standards. The article also sheds light on some suggestive measures to cope up these wrong practices.

Occupational exposure is currently the most widespread menace all over India because of untreated industrial effluents. Such constant contact with toxic substances poses significant risks of occupational toxicity, which often leads to severe occupational disease among workers. It is crucial to protect workers and the general population from toxic chemicals to foster a sustainable industrial ecosystem and ensure long-term public health safety. Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) emerged as a powerful tool during the COVID-19 pandemic and opioid epidemic, for monitoring public health trends by analysing lethal threats in the environment. Currently, heavy metals have been identified as the highest priority group among several kinds of pollutants known because of their adverse effects on the industry workers, the general population, and the environment. This study focuses on the feasibility of the WBE approach by utilizing advanced analytical techniques, which enable early detection of the toxicity level of metallic effluents in the wastewater produced by the industries and prevent future population health hazards. In this Review Article, techniques/procedures for treating industrial effluents are initially discussed along with currently available analytical techniques for the detection of hazardous materials present in the industrial effluents, gaps in the WBE approach in industrial wastewater management in India, followed by limitations, and prospects of wastewater management techniques.

Ink analysis is an important aspect of document examination, particularly in the cases involving frauds. However, with growing awareness, fraudster has resorted to disappearing inks to commit frauds which disappears after a certain duration leaving no visible traces. These disappearing inks usually contain thymolphthalein (blue) and phenolphthalein (pink) dye which shift from a coloured state to colourless when exposed to air, acid. A novel method for perpetrating bank fraud using disappearing inks in the processing of different financial documents is currently highly popular. The analysis of ink in forensic examination has come up as a great challenge. Ink used for committing forgery are broadly classified into two categories: erasable ink and disappearing ink. Disappearing ink is used for marking system in textile industries but it may be abused in forgery and counterfeiting. It fades away without leaving any trace after a few hours upon exposure to CO2 or any other chemical present in the air. On the other hand, erasable ink can be effortlessly removed using specific rubbers integrated into each pen. Many destructive and non-destructive methods are used for the decipherment of such types of vanishing ink or magic ink. The present review represents the type, nature, properties and decipherment of disappearing and erasable ink both by using physical and chemical methods.

Poison is something which can be counted as a harmful substance that causes injury or harm to the organisms and their body parts and can even cause death. Poison can be defined into 6 major categories, based on origin (biological, chemical and physical poisons), based on chemical structure (organic and inorganic poisons), based on mechanism of action (enzyme inhibitors, cell membrane disruptors, metabolic poisons), based on system affected (hepatotoxins, neurotoxins etc.), based on exposure route (injection, inhaled, absorbed etc.), and based on duration of effect (acute and chronic). Poisoning is a serious issue that is gaining mass hype all over the world. India witnesses a significant number of poisoning cases each year,1,2 resulting in substantial morbidity and mortality. This review study aims to summarize the existing literature on lethal poisoning cases in India, highlighting the common poisons involved, demographics, clinical features, and outcomes.