Tracing Resilience: A Forensic Examination of Pesticide Stability in Beverages

The phenomenon of crime is not ordinary; behind every criminal act lies a motive, and after every crime, there exists a trail or clue. These traces are crucial for investigators and forensic scientists in establishing the perpetrator and linking them to the crime. With the advancement of technology, the methods employed in committing crimes have also evolved, and the ready availability of poisons has made the act of killing distressingly simple. Poisons, whether organic or inorganic compounds originally intended for eradicating insects, pests, or rodents, are unfortunately misused to end human lives. In cases where poisons are employed, tracing the specific poison to determine the cause of death is imperative. However, when poisons are mixed with other substances, such as liquids, the task of tracing them becomes significantly challenging. One such medium where poisons can be surreptitiously introduced is beverages. The focus of this study is to trace poisons mixed in beverages containing citric acid and to ascertain their stability period, during which the presence of the poison can be detected—a critical timeframe within which poison traces can be identified. To conduct this study, pesticides including cypermethrin, chlorpyrifos, and phenthoate were chosen and mixed with beverages containing citric acid. Ultraviolet spectroscopy was employed to analyze the samples. The study’s findings indicate that, with the exception of cypermethrin, the stability of the other two pesticides, chlorpyrifos, and phenthoate, was compromised, leading to chemical changes and loss of stability over time.