Category Archives: Analytical

Forensic science: chemists are detectives in lab coat

Ever wonder how evidence is processed from a crime scene?

In the 19th century, British chemist James Marsh first developed a forensic method for detecting arsenic. And just in a period of ten years, the Marsh test solved 98 poison related cases all over England and Wales. Since then, forensic chemistry has always been an important aspect in a criminal investigation.

Source: Wikimedia

 

Nowadays, different substances can be identified using familiar laboratory instruments such as Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, Thin Layer Chromatography, High Performance Liquid Chromatography, and more. These identifications play a crucial part in a police investigation as they provide investigators with leads suggesting how a crime is committed.

 

 

Different body fluids detection through FTIR. Source: Ayari Takamura and others

 

Remember that scene in the movie where a crime scene investigator sprays chemical onto something, and then trace of blood becomes apparent? This is called Luminol test. In the presence of blood, luminol reacts by fluorescing, thus emitting a blue glow in a dark room. Luminol is a water-based solution that detects blood even after it has been diluted 10,000 times.

The Kastle–Meyer test is another blood detection test that is common in crime labs. Phenolphthalein reacts with hydrogen peroxide in the presence of hemoglobin to turn from colorless to pink.

One important branch of forensic science is toxicology. A toxicology test uses principle of analytical chemistry , biology, and the study of poisons to determine the identity and relative amount of substances presence in one’s body fluids. A tox screen can provide the police with valuable information to the nature of the investigation, such as poisoning, overdose, suicidal or homicidal.

A forensic scientist is Sherlock with a microscope!

Gone In a Bang: The Reality Behind Super Creatine

Bang Energy has become a well-known and publically recognized brand in the fitness industry. However, they have come under scrutiny after mismarketing some of their products.

Bang Energy Logo

Introduced in 2012, the branded Super-Creatine supplement found in many of their beverages has been shown to be ineffective and resulted in legal action from competing brand Monster Energy.

 

Many Fitness enthusiasts supplement their diet with creatine, most commonly in the form of creatine monohydrate, an amino acid that promotes energy production in muscle cells during high-intensity exercise.

 

Lasha Talakhadze breaks world record Clean and Jerk at Rio Olympics 473kg

Supplementation of creatine increases the body’s natural concentration of the amino acid, leading to higher levels of available ATP (stored energy molecule) in muscle cells during exercise. Creatine monohydrate remains one of the most well-researched fitness supplements in the world to this day.

 

In 2012, Bang released their popular Bang energy drink, aimed at gym goers with a new supplement in the mix; Super-Creatine. Super-Creatine, or creatyl-l-leucine, was a new revolution in creatine supplementation due to its binding with l-leucine, increasing its ability to pass through protein channels. However, a new study shows this is not the case.

A study performed at the University of Manitoba on differences in the effects of creatine monohydrate and creatyl-l-leucine supplementation suggests that the l-leucine bonded creatine is rendered useless, not more effective, than regular creatine.

Creatine Monohydrate Chemical Structure

The researchers found that creatine levels in muscle and brain cells increased slightly with creatine monohydrate supplementation from the control. However, creatyl-l-luecine showed no effect on creatine levels in the body, suggesting that super-creatine is anything but super.

 

This study performed under funding from Monster Energy was released in early 2022, which has led to lawsuits from the competing company regarding the misinformation in Bang’s products. In September 2022, Monster energy won 293 million dollars in their case against bang for the false advertising of Super Creatine. While Bang Energy stated they would remove the super creatine labeling from their packaging, it is still found in bold letters at the top of their cans.

 

-Tristan Ruigrok