ANÁLISE DE FRAGMENTOS BALÍSTICOS POR MEIO DE EXAMES MICRO BALÍSTICOS, DETERMINAÇÃO DA COMPOSIÇÃO QUÍMICA E ANÁLISE ISOTÓPICA DO CHUMBO: UMA REVISÃO

BALLISTIC FRAGMENTS ANALYSIS BY MICRO BALLISTIC EXAMINATIONS, CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND LEAD ISOTOPE RATIOS: A REVIEW

Firearms and ammunition identification produces important information for the elucidation of the crime and also in cases of confirmation of the offender. In a crime scene, when a suspect weapon and its ammunition are found, it is possible to clarify and conclude an investigation using qualitative analysis and standards. However, in some cases only the fragments of ammunition are found, which makes difficult to identify the weapon using traditional techniques. Therefore, alternative methods are needed such as the determination of elemental composition of the lead alloy and the verification of the lead isotopic ratios. The present work includes a review of the basic concepts of ballistics and conventional techniques of ballistic confrontation, the existing studies related to the chemical analysis of ballistic fragments and its application in criminalistics and, finally, the articles involving the lead isotopic analysis as a tool for ballistic identification.