Soil and Glass

Glass and soil can be very important trace evidence in criminal cases. There are many types of glass present in our environment and they are often found at crimes, especially automobile accidents and home and business invasions. Glass is a material somewhat like a solid and a liquid. When glass fragments are large enough to be pieced together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, the evidence can be individualized to a particular source. In most cases, the glass fragments are too small to be fracture matched and class characteristics are emphasized. Most commonly, this involves measuring the density and refractive index of the glass fragments. Electron microscopy or ICP-MS can also be used in the analysis of elemental composition of glass.