Ultra-Fast Bites - Blood Alcohol Analysis in the 21st Century

Welcome to the "Ultra-Fast Bites" series - where you can get ultra-fast insights about the latest trends and hottest topics in bite-sized content to stay at the forefront of science. Alcohol abuse is a public health concern that often leads to criminal charges and legal consequences.

Tragedies fueled by alcohol — like vehicle crashes, accidents, assaults, robberies and fires—lead to injuries and fatalities. Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) analysis plays a critical role in investigating and prosecuting these incidents. Forensic toxicologists can determine the amount of alcohol in a person’s blood at the time the sample is taken. However, performing blood alcohol analysis can be time-consuming and lead to a backlog of cases.

In this presentation, Dr Jackie will introduce two techniques to help forensic scientists achieve fast, accurate BAC results using simultaneous GC-MS and GC-FID analysis.

Learning Objectives:

• Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) analysis plays a critical role in investigating and prosecuting various incidents
• Blood sample analysis is typically performed using routine gas chromatography (GC)
• Increasingly, forensic labs are transitioning to a simultaneous GC-FID and GC-MS method for analysis
• Without the right instrumentation, performing BAC can be time-consuming and lead to a backlog of cases

Presenter: Dr Jackie (Assistant Product Manager (GC & GCMS), Shimadzu (Asia Pacific) Pte Ltd)

Dr Jackie obtained his PhD in Analytical Chemistry from the National University of Singapore, He has garnered over 9 years of research, training, and facilitation experience. Dr Jackie meets scientists from various industries to share technical knowledge and collect feedback, understanding their problems and helping them find well-suited solutions in GC-related analyses.