[Analysis with the Combur-Test--special aspects in forensic trace examination]

Patrick J Laberke1, Roland Hausmann, Nadine Wiprächtiger

  • 1Institut für Rechtsmedizin der Universität Basel.

Archiv Fur Kriminologie
|July 28, 2012
PubMed

The Combur Test is a ready-made and easy-to-use pretest for blood. It is based on the oxidation of tetramethylbenzidine (TMB), which is catalysed by haemoglobin and its derivatives. Despite its high sensitivity, there are many known substances which are responsible for false positive and false negative test results. On the basis of experiments of our own, case reports and the pertinent literature special aspects of the application of the Combur Test in the forensic routine case work are discussed.

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