DIFFERENT FIELDS OF APPLICATIONS - Total-Reflection X-Ray Fluorescence Analysis and Related Methods - page 367

Rigaku—were installed in several police prefectures and hospitals all over the
country. By this, X-ray methods rose to fame in Japan in one go [217].
The woman petitioned for a retrial—her counsels were arguing that only
circumstantial evidence existed. In 2013, Kawai [219] reviewed two previous
inquiry reports of the Wakayama crime. The first report was said to be a
qualitative analysis by“pattern recognition”of two spectra, while the second
report was confirmed to be the first quantitative report of SR-XRF analysis.
Besides arsenic, the first report was based on three minor elements, Sn, Sb, and
Bi, while the second report additionally used the elements selenium and lead.
The peaks of these elements, however, were useless because of interferences. A
recent analysis showed another four impurity elements in the raw spectra of the
first report, particularly Fe, Zn, Mo, and Ba. In contrast to previous investiga-
tions, this result showed that the arsenic powder found in the flat of the
condemned woman was significantly different than the powder in the paper cup
used for poisoning.
On the one hand, this example indicates the generally high expectations
placed on spectral analysis in criminology. On the other hand, it demonstrates
considerable difficulties and limitations in complicated analytical situations. An
exceptional problem is that lawyers and scientists talk in different languages
and use difficult terms with different meanings, such as error, uncertainty,
significance, and representativeness. Such terms are exactly defined and strictly
used in science but have a vague border in colloquial language and can even
have a different value judgment.
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