Officers 2005-2006

Chairman Robert P. Nolan, PhD
International Environmental Research Foundation
Post Office Box 3459
Grand Central Station
Tel/Fax (800) 709-002 E-mail

Chairman Emeritus William E.L. Grossman
Department of Chemistry
Hunter College of The City University of New York
695 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10021
Tel (212) 772-5338/5330 Fax (212) 772-5332

Board
David C. Locke, Chairman
Department of Chemistry
Queens College of The City University of New York
65-30 Kissena Boulevard
Flushing, NY 11367-1597
Tel (718) 997-3271

Thomas Kubic, Director and Program Chair
John Jay School of Criminal Justice of The City University of New York
899 Tenth Avenue
New York, NY 10019

Urs Jans
Department of Chemistry
The City College of The City University of New York
Convent Avenue & 138th Street
New York, NY 10031
Tel (212) 650-8369/6052 Fax (212) 650-6107 E-mail:

The Group’s re-organizational effort to improve attendance by providing more seminars of interest to the analytical chemical community has begun to happen with average seminar attendance now at over 20. We have invited the participation of the students from John Jay School of Criminal Justice to attend our seminars and Dr Thomas Kubic has joined our Board of Directors. The students in the graduate program in Analytical Chemistry at the City University are required to attend the seminars and this year the Forensic Science students from John Jay are also required to attend.

Reverse proton transfer of 3-hydroxyflavone (3-HF) from tautomer ground state to normal ground state has been studied by time resolved surface enhanced Raman
scattering (TRSERS). The tautomer ground state of 3-HF is formed by an exciting 337 nm nitrogen laser pulse and monitored by a 488 nm Ar+ laser with gated photodiode array detection. By studying the changes of some transient band intensities with time, the lifetime of tautomer 3-HF on an Ag electrode is determined to be 1.4 _s. Besides the photoinduced photo-oxygenation product, evidence for additional peroxide intermediate is obtained.

The media have described the recent intense interest in forensic science as the CSI effect. Television and notorious cases especially those that involve celebrities such as O.J. Simpson and Robert Blake have swelled the numbers of young people desiring to enter this allegedly glamorous field of an applied science. What all this hype fails to mention is that the practice of criminalistics requires a solid undergraduate or graduate education in analytical chemistry. This seminar will describe the applications of various analytical chemical methods and techniques to the analysis of non-biological physical “transfer” evidence in the solution and prosecution of crime. Many of these approaches are just as valuable in civil actions. The importance of forensic experience in the interpretation of the data obtained will be discussed.

The microscopic analysis of the particulate matter from World Trade Center Dust will be discussed in detail. Data from specimens collected at ground zero on 9/11 as well as collected days and months after the event from surrounding area will be shown and contrasted. Both qualitative and quantitative aspects of the dust sample’s compositions will be offered. Evidence of the persistence of the particular matter originating from the Trade Center will be presented. The power of the microscope specifically the polarized light microscope (PLM) will be demonstrated.

Mr. Petraco has over 35 year’s experience as a forensic and consulting microscopist. He currently consults with and trains analysts at the New York City Police Crime Laboratory and is a lecturer at John Jay College CUNY. He has authored over 40 articles, chapters and textbooks as well as made over 100 presentations dealing with the analysis of particulates.