Aug 07, 2020

A proposed ASTM International standard will help provide a standard practice for the collection, preservation, and analysis of organic gunshot residues. ASTM’s forensic science committee (E30) is developing the proposed standard (WK72856).

“The proposed standard will provide a protocol that a forensic laboratory can follow to implement a process for the sampling, analyzing, and identifying of organic gunshot residue (OGSR),” says ASTM International member David Freehling, forensic scientist and manager at the North Carolina State Crime Laboratory. 

According to Freehling, this protocol can be complementary to current accepted practices, and can be used alongside the processing of inorganic gunshot residue samples.

The new standard will be used in forensic laboratories conducting gunshot residue analysis.

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