Don't unwittingly become a victim of a crime scene that you are investigating. In addition to the obvious perp with a gun there are numerous safety and health hazards that can exist at a crime scene. Chemical and toxic material exposure, blood and human body fluids, light-source handling, confined-space safety, and radioactive materials, all are potential safety areas on today's world.
Dangerous Chemicals and Drugs
A crime scene can occur anywhere. For that reason it is possible for officers investigating a crime site to come into contact with hazardous and toxic chemicals. A shooting in an industrial plant that makes electronics boards or a metal fabrication and finishing plant, a paint manufacturer or even a dry cleaners can bring officers into contact with hazardous materials. Toxic solvents like benzene, acetone, or trichloroethylene (TCE) are used in many manufacturing operations. TCE is widely used as a degreaser for metal finishing operations and also for cleaning in printing shops and other industries. Open vats of acids like hydrochloric acid or sulfuric acid may be present. If the crime is committed in or around these areas this represents a potential hazard to all law enforcement personnel in the area. The danger is especially true for those officers of the forensic laboratory team. Critical evidence may be in areas of high hazard especially if placed there to help hide the crime. Appropriate protective gear must be worn in these situations.
If a shooting has occurred in an area where drums of solvents are stored or used one or more bullets may have penetrated solvent drums causing solvent leakage. While many chemicals have a foul smell or have a pungent odor and are readily recognized as dangerous, others are not. TCE, for example, has a sweet odor while other solvents have a fruity odors. In these cases it may not be apparent that you are exposed to a toxic chemical until you have in haled a large potentially toxic level of the material.
Means of Exposure
Inhalation is the most common route of exposure for toxic chemicals. This provides a direct contact of toxic materials with your respiratory system. Inhaled material can be in the form of vapors, dust, an aerosol, smoke or fumes. Hydrogen sulfide is an example of a chemical with the smell of "rotten eggs". Generally if you are present in an area when this gas is released the intense smell will drive you out of the area and to safety before any serious toxic effects are encountered. However, continuous exposure to low concentration will lead to olfactory fatigue (your nose fails) and this can allow a person to be exposed to toxic levels of this chemical.
Contamination of Skin
Touching things at the crime scene or collecting and bagging evidence can lead to exposure to a toxic chemical by direct contact with the skin or by a process called absorption, where a chemical is absorbed thru the skin. Many volatile solvents can be absorbed thru the skin and such exposure may not be immediately noticed.
Ingestion of toxic substances or accidental injection can also occur but these routes of exposure are most often limited to forensic technicians working in the laboratory. No food or drink should be brought into the forensic laboratory or into an active crime scene. This precaution, which should be a standard practice, should always be taken to eliminate these possible routes of contamination.
The Clandestine Drug Lab
One of the biggest potentials for exposure to hazardous materials arises with the illegal drug lab. Whether they are making methamphetamine or refining and repackaging cocaine these operations are an accident waiting to happen.
The meth lab is the most frequent lab encountered by officers these days. In 2007 some 1,189 meth labs or dumpsites were reported in Missouri, 539 in Tennessee and 221 in California while most other states had lesser numbers. These labs whether sophisticated operations or Ma and Pa operations out of someone's cellar or the trunk of a car all have a wide variety of highly toxic and flammable solvents present. In addition, several strong acids and red phosphorus will also be present. Since red phosphorus has been banned from sale in this country for a number of years the meth lab operators have become creative and cut the heads of scratch matches which use red phosphorus as part of there composition. It is quite likely to find a metal coffee can filled with match heads. While red phosphorus has relatively low toxicity it can easily be converted to yellow phosphorus which is highly flammable and very toxic. However, the greatest danger to match heads in a can, and one that may not be readily apparent is the potential for ignition and explosion. A can packed with match heads can explode with the force of a bomb not only injuring officers close to it but also rupturing containers of other toxic chemicals.
Confined Space Dangers
Whether in an illegal drug lab or other crime scene site confined spaces can present a danger. By definition, a confined space is an enclosed area large enough for a person to enter and work but that would have only a single means of entry and no or limited means of exit. Many confined spaces might not be readily apparent to an officer investigation a scene. Confined spaces are not meant for continuous operation. Examples of confined spaces are usually quoted as sewers, oven pits, tank cars, underground electrical passages, etc. However, for the investigating officer a confined space could be a closet, a bathroom, a tool shed or any of a large number of spaces where there is only a single entry and no ventilation. Confined spaces can expose an officer to toxic fumes and materials, explosive materials, of areas which are deprived of oxygen and in which an officer could loose consciousness.
New Dangers
With the advances in technology that have been applied to forensic analysis and crime scene investigation in recent years has also come some new potential dangers to those using these technologies. Lasers, ultraviolet light and other light sources present a danger of irreversible eye damage. This danger exists not only for the operator using the light source but for others in the area being exposed indirectly to the beam or from exposure to reflected beams. Appropriate protective eyewear must be used by all operators and any others in the immediate area. The beam generated by some light sources is invisible so it is important that all investigators at a scene be informed when any light source is being used so that they remain out of the area while these lights are in use. For operator who routinely uses a light source there is the potential for skin damage after prolonged use and precautions should be taken to avoid this exposure.
