14 DAY TRIAL // Researchers with the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announce the development of a new method for detecting buried human bodies that have been hidden from authorities deliberately. The approach could render the use of bloodhounds obsolete, the team says.
The NIST device can easily detect the biochemical signatures associated with a decaying human body, and is extremely sensitive to a wide variety of grave mediums or materials. For example, it can be used to detect corpses entombed under concrete, whereas dogs are unable to detect such burial sites.
Other methods of body detection, such as ground radars, are also effective in their own rights, but they can operate correctly only if a few baseline conditions are met. The sensor developed at NIST can operate under a wide variety of conditions, and access locations that are forbidden to dogs or radars.
Researchers say that decomposing cadavers release a biochemical agent called ninhydrin-reactive nitrogen (NRN), which has a tendency to accumulate right above the clandestine burial site, as well as in small pockets of air within the gravesoil proper.
The new instrument was developed by NIST chemists Thomas J. Bruno and Tara M. Lovestead, and bypasses the need to use laborious solvent extraction techniques for soil processing. The probe it uses is just a little thicker than a human hair, and can be easily inserted into the ground to find NRN.
The instrument proper uses a porous layer, open tubular (PLOT) column coated in alumina, and featuring a motorized pipette used for air intake. The sensor can conduct operations at room temperature, the research group says.
At this point, the NIST device is the only one on the market capable of detecting NRN in the vapor phase, and which does not rely on additional laboratory tests for confirmation. If used on a large scale, it could give law enforcement officers access to a new capability in uncovering hidden grave sites.
Recent tests have demonstrated that the PLOT device can detect NRN at a grave site for more than 20 weeks. NRN intensity was found to peak at 5 weeks, but the equipment is sensitive enough that it can even detect trace amounts of the chemical.
“The device operates at room temperatures, as opposed to ultra-cold temperatures, which is a big plus for future portability as well as the fact that it employs chemicals already in use by law enforcement officials (ninhydrin reagent) for exposing latent fingerprints,” a NIST statement reads.