Applications of UV/visible spectroscopy in

forensic science
Forensic drug analysis deals with the identification
and quantification of illegal drugs.
The testing of drugs is generally carried out in two
steps, namely, screening and confirmation.
UV/visible spectroscopy is widely used as a very
significant tool for both qualitative and quantitative
drug analysis.
 Some of the applications of UV/visible spectroscopy
in forensic science as discussed below.
 Analysis of narcotics and drug testing

Analysis of narcotics and related drugs is an

important part of forensic science.
UV/Vis molecular absorption is routinely used for
the analysis of narcotics and for drug testing.
The presence of these drugs can be confirmed from
their absorption maxima i.e. λmax or by comparing
the UV/visible spectra of these drugs with spectra of
authentic sample.
Absorption maxima for various abusive drugs
Drug (λmax in nm)
1. Cocaine in 0.2 N H2SO4 233 nm
2. Codeine in water 284 nm
3. Ecstasy or MDMA in ethanol 286 nm
4. Morphine in acidic solution 285 nm
5. Phencyclidine or PCP in 0.1 M HCl 262 nm
 6. Amphetamine in methanol 258 nm
 7. Nicotine in 0.2 N H2SO4 260 nm
8. Caffeine in 0.2 N H2SO4 271 nm
 9. Metamphetamine in methanol 259 nm
 10. Tetrahydrocannabinol in methanol 276 nm
 Determination of alcohol in blood
UV/visible spectroscopy can be used for quantitative
estimation of blood alcohol using the breathalyzer test.
 In this test, sample of breath of the person is passed
through an acidic solution of potassium dichromate
which is orange in colour.
Potassium dichromate in acidic medium is an oxidizing
agent and oxidizes ethanol to acetic acid while
dichromate ions get reduced to green colored Cr3+ ions.
 The concentration of ethanol in the breath sample is
determined by the decrease in absorbance at 440 nm
around which the dichromate ion absorb.
 Using this value, by using Lambert-Beers’s law, the
concentration of alcohol can be then measured.
 Ink analysis
Ink analysis is one of the areas in forensic
questioned document aims at comparing,
identifying, characterizing and discriminating ink
obtained from writing instrument used to write on a
document.
The examination of different inks and their
classification can be easily done with UV-Vis spectra
of pen inks.
 This is much simple and quick to perform as
compared to other methods of ink analysis such as
chromatographic and spectroscopic techniques.
 Drug overdose study
The drug overdose may lead to death. The cases of
drug overdose can be studied by UV/visible
spectroscopy.
For example overdose of aspirin can be studied by
studying the UV/visible spectra of blood plasma of
a person with overdose of aspirin.
Aspirin is prepared by the acetylation of salicylic
acid using acetic anhydride.
 The levels of salicylate present in blood plasma
can be analysed using UV-visible spectroscopy to
indicate if the subject has taken a therapeutic dose
or an overdose
 Forensic determination of metals by
UV/visible spectroscopy
Iron, aluminium and copper are three metals, which
are most widely used for fabricating various articles
of daily need.
These elements are found as a part of almost every
weapon, tools, and metal shards in crime scenes.
Other metals such as lead, arsenic are sometimes
encountered at industrial work places and many time
used as poisons. Arsenic salts are commonly used as
insecticides in houses
The presence and concentration of these metal ions
can be easily measured by UV/visible spectroscopy
using various methods.
UV/visible analysis of various metals

Metal λ in nm
Aluminum 535
Arsenic 530
Cadmium 540
Lead 510
 Examination of blood stains by UV/Visible
spectroscopy

At crime scenes, especially related to murder, the

most significant of evidence for forensic investigators
are blood stains.
The sample of blood stain collected from the crime
scene can be used for DNA-profiling for verifying the
suspect’s identity as well as for pattern analysis in
order to reconstruct the crime.
UV/visible spectroscopy method can be used to
study blood stains by detecting the presence of
enzyme activity in stain.
 Forensic discrimination of dyed textile fibers
using UV/VIS spectroscopy
In incidents involving personal contact, such as
homicide, assault, and sexual offenses, as well as hit-
and-run accidents and other crimes, fibers are often
encountered as trace evidence.
From forensic point of view, the knowledge of
chemistry of fiber and fibers dyes is very important for
both i.e., as the basis of fiber identification and for the
forensic relevance of various fiber/dye combinations.
The UV/visible spectroscopy offers a significant
contribution to differentiate between various type of
fibers and dyes.
 Quantitative Determination of Hemoglobin in Tooth and Bone sample

In the forensic investigation, the detection and

quantification of hemoglobin in the skeletal or dried
remains can be very significant.
This can be achieved with the help of UV/visible
spectroscopy using leuco crystal violet dye.
Extractions of hemoglobin from a femur bone by can be
done using 0.5 M hydrochloric acid and from a tooth it
can be done by using 6.0 M urea.
A violet product is obtained when these extractions are
treated with leuco crystal violet. Using the measured
absorbance at 590 nm of each extraction, the
corresponding amount of hemoglobin in each sample
can be determined.