X-ray diffraction (XRD) evaluation of questioned cremains

The practice of cremating human remains is becoming increasingly common around the world, which has also resulted in increased incidents of mishandling, illegal disposal, and fraud. X-ray diffraction (XRD) offers a clear method of differentiating cremated remains from common filler materials, such as cement and wood ash. XRD can also be used to determine if cremated remains have been contaminated, and if so, to what extent. An evaluation of published data and in-house work, however, demonstrates that XRD cannot be used to differentiate human cremains from the processed cremains of other animals. XRD is a powerful analytical technique but must be employed with an understanding of both the limits of the instrumentation and the wide diversity of the human population.