TG-MS analysis of the thermal decomposition of pig bone for forensic applications

In order to investigate the potential of thermal analysis for the determination of post-mortem age, rib bone specimens were collected from the remains of a number of slaughtered pigs that were allowed to decompose in the Australian bush in a controlled site under a range of conditions for time periods ranging from 1 to 5 years. The bone specimens were cut in cross-section with the compact bone collected for analysis. TG-MS curves were collected by heating bone samples to 1100 degrees C in an argon atmosphere. The TG-MS data showed significant differences for the pig bone specimens derived from the different environments and showed trends in peak size correlating with age. The reported data suggest that TG-MS has significant potential for the identification of origin as well as the ageing of skeletal remains in a forensic context.