To quantify the carboxyhemoglobin (CO-Hb) concentration of a forensic biospecimen (commonly blood or tissue sample) by headspace gas chromatography (HS-GC), most laboratory protocols entail bubbling carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen (N2) gas through the sample to saturate it and then liberate free CO gas. However, despite safety precautions, such as the use of a fume hood, extended exposure to CO imposes significant safety hazards to analysts. Moreover, analysts working in poorly equipped laboratories must pay increased attention during CO bubbling to prevent sample overflow. Such difficulties slow down the procedure tremendously, particularly when multiple samples must be analyzed simultaneously. In this study, adjustments to the conventional approach were made by introducing a given blood sample into a syringe equipped with a three-way valve, which then withdraws CO gas from an airtight gas sampling bag. After rotating the syringe, free CO in the blood is removed by moving the plunger up and down a few times and repeating the procedure with nitrogen gas. The resulting blood sample is then used to prepare a concentration series of CO-Hb blood. The sample preparation time for six samples was reduced by approximately 74 %, and no significant differences in CO-Hb levels were observed compared with the conventional method. This modified approach is expected to facilitate the inexpensive and efficient CO-Hb concentration determination of multitudinous samples for accurate forensic analysis.
법과학 분야는 사회정의 구현에 있어 크나큰 가치가 있음에도 불구하고 우리나라에서는 이 분야에 대한 인식이 미흡하여 선진 외국에 비해 침체되어 있는 실정이다. 이에 우리나라에서도 법과학 분야와 관련 있는 학계, 연구기관, 수사기관 등 유관 단체들로 구성된 한국 법과학회를 창립하여 이 분야를 활성화 시켜 과학수사를 한층 더 발전시키기 위함을 목적으로 한다.