Evaluation of alcohol in chewing gum found in crime scene

Determining whether a person involved in a forensic incident was under the influence of alcohol is one of the most frequently encountered and up-to-date issues in forensic medicine practice. Biologic materials such as blood, saliva, urine and hair are already used to determine whether a person has consumed alcohol or not. In this thesis, it is aimed to predict the amount of alcohol in blood and saliva by means of detecting alcohol in the chewing gum of a person who recently consumed alcohol. 21 adult and healthy volunteers enrolled in the study, consumed 1 g/kg amount of alcoholic beverage within 15 minutes and then blood, saliva, urine and chewed gum were taken for analysis at certain time intervals. Once taken, samples were prepared for analysis, most of which were analyzed on the same day, and the samples that could not be analyzed on the same day were stored at +4 °C with a maximum delay of 1 day and then analyzed. Headspace-Gas Chromatography device was used for alcohol detection. As a result of the analysis, came out the potential for detection of alcohol in the chewing gum at the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 8th hours. The amounts of alcohol in the chewing gum were correlated with the amounts of alcohol in blood and saliva, except for the 2nd hour. It is revealed that the amount of alcohol in blood and saliva could be predicted by means of the amount of alcohol in the chewing gum. This premier study unveils that chewing gum found at a crime scene, or a chewing gum collected from an individual present at a crime scene can be used as alternative sample for alcohol analysis, and that the level of blood and saliva alcohol can be predicted retrospectively using the chewing gum.