Forensic services
Plastics, tapes & packaging
MSA offers a unique service for the comparison and matching of plastics, tape and packaging. In addition to conventional matching techniques, MSA has pioneered a powerful new technique; Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS) to provide a link between plastic samples from the same batch, even when there is no physical fit.
MSA is the only company in the UK accredited to provide this service; going beyond the traditional techniques offered by other laboratories.
By looking at the atoms which go to make up plastic materials, such as carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen or oxygen, MSA is able to create an “isotopic fingerprint” of a sample. Samples taken from the same source will have the same “isotopic fingerprint”.
Some materials, such as plastic bags, adhesive tapes, papers, wire insulation, rope fibres, etc. are often overlooked as evidence if a physical match cannot be established. For example, if torn edges do not match, or if stretching has altered striation marks. This is where IRMS can provide a solution.
The more individual components within an evidential sample, for example duct tape comprising backing film, adhesive and/or fibres, which are found to have the same isotopic composition, the greater the support that the samples originate from a common source.
MSA is also able to perform classification by chemical composition (using infra-red spectroscopy) and physical dimensions to assess similarities.
Plastics, during manufacture, are cast, pressed, or extruded into a variety of shapes—such as films, fibres, plates, tubes, bottles, boxes, and many more. The process of the manufacture will imprint certain characteristics into the final product. Products produced consecutively within the same batch, i.e. those subjected to the same manufacturing cycle, may exhibit similar characteristics. MSA scientists will endeavour to re-assemble fragments of a plastic item by matching fracture lines and striation marks to provide a physical fit match.
MSA experts are able to provide testimony on the comparison and matching of plastic, tape and packaging materials and comment on evidence presented by other laboratories.
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