OSAC Standards Bulletin

The OSAC Registry is a repository of high-quality, technically sound published and proposed standards for forensic science. These written documents define minimum requirements, best practices, standard protocols, and other guidance to help ensure that the results of forensic analyses are reliable and reproducible.

Four Standards Added to the OSAC Registry

SDO Published Standards (added November 2, 2021):

• ADA 1077-20 Human Age Assessment by Dental Analysis (distributed with permission by the ADA).
• ANSI/ASB Standard 093, Standard Test Method for the Forensic Examination and Testing of Firearms, First Edition, 2020.
• ASTM E3255-21 Standard Practice for Quality Assurance of Forensic Science Service Providers Performing Forensic Chemical Analysis*.

OSAC Proposed Standard (added November 2, 2021):

• OSAC 2021-S-0006, Standard for the Use of GenBank for Taxonomic Assignment of Wildlife.

*CRIMINAL JUSTICE AGENCIES CAN ACCESS THE ASTM STANDARD LISTED ABOVE BY VISITING OSAC'S ACCESS TO STANDARDS WEBPAGE.

To date, the OSAC Registry contains 76 standards (67 SDO published and 9 OSAC Proposed Standards), representing over 18 forensic science disciplines. 

Visit the OSAC Registry webpage to see the complete list and access these standards. 

Standards Open for Comment for OSAC Registry Approval

OSAC Proposed Standards

The OSAC Registry approval process for OSAC Proposed Standards is used to review OSAC drafted standards for technical quality and placement on the Registry. The following OSAC draft proposed standards are being considered for submission to an SDO. The final draft provided to the SDO will be available on the OSAC Registry as an “OSAC Proposed Standard.” OSAC welcomes comments on whether the current draft is suitable for release to the SDO as well as suggestions for improvements in content and wording. To be considered, comments must be placed in the OSAC Comment Form and sent to comments [at] nist.gov (comments[at]nist[dot]gov) by 11:59 p.m. ET on December 6, 2021.

• OSAC 2022-N-0009, Guide for Role Based Training in Facial Comparison.
• OSAC 2022-S-0001, Standard Guide for Image Comparison Conclusions/Opinions.
• OSAC 2022-S-0006, Standard Practice for Gas Chromatography Electron Ionization Mass Spectrometry Analysis of Ignitable Liquids.

NOTE: OSAC RESOURCE TASK GROUP (RTG) MEMBERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO COMMENT ON THESE STANDARDS BY DOWNLOADING THE RTG COMMENT TABLE AND SUBMITTING IT TO forensics [at] nist.gov (FORENSICS[at]NIST[dot]GOV) IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE REGISTRY APPROVAL PROCESS. 

New SDO Published Standards

Academy Standards Board (ASB)

ASB published three firearms and toolmarks standards on October 15, 2021. These standards were initially drafted by OSAC’s Firearms & Toolmarks Subcommittee and finalized by ASB’s Firearms and Toolmarks Consensus Body.

• ANSI/ASB Standard 061, Firearms and Toolmarks 3D Measurement Systems and Measurement Quality Control, First Edition, 2021.
• ANSI/ASB Standard 062, Standard for Topography Comparison Software for Toolmark Analysis, First Edition, 2021.
• ANSI/ASB Standard 063, Implementation of 3D Technologies in Forensic Firearm and Toolmark Comparison Laboratories, First Edition, 2021.

ASTM

• ASTM E2451-21 Standard Practice for Preserving Ignitable Liquids and Ignitable Liquid Residue Extracts from Fire Debris Samples has been revised to E2451-21. The current edition, revised by OSAC’s Ignitable Liquids, Explosives & Gunshot Residue Subcommittee, was finalized by ASTM Subcommittee E30.01 and published October 2021. 
• ASTM E3235-21 Standard Practice for Latent Print Evidence Imaging Resolution is a new standard which was initially drafted by OSAC’s Video/Imaging Technology & Analysis Subcommittee and finalized by ASTM Subcommittee E30.12. 

Standards Open for Comment at SDOs

For a full list of forensic science standards that are currently open for comment at SDOs and how to submit your feedback, visit OSAC’s Standards Open for Comment webpage. This page consolidates and tracks comment deadlines for you and will be updated on a weekly basis.

ASB is currently soliciting comments on:

• 2 interdisciplinary standards – comment deadline November 22, 2021
• 2 toxicology standards – comment deadline November 22, 2021
• 1 bloodstain pattern analysis standard – comment deadline November 29, 2021 
• 1 firearms standard – comment deadline November 29, 2021
• 1 footwear & tire standard – comment deadline November 29, 2021
• 2 wildlife forensics standards – comment deadline December 13, 2021 

ASTM is currently soliciting comments until November 22, 2021 on:

• 3 fire debris and explosive standards 
• 1 gunshot residue analysis standard
• 3 trace evidence standards

NFPA is currently soliciting comments on two fire and explosion investigation standards – comment deadlines November 10, 2021 and January 5, 2022.

Work Proposals for New or Revised Standards

The following documents are being initiated and are expected to result in new or revised standards.

ASB

On October 29, 2021, a Project Initiation Notification System (PINS) was published on page two in the ANSI Standards Action. This will begin a 30-day period for public comment on the initiation of ASB’s work on the following standards. Contact Teresa Ambrosius (tamambrosius [at] aafs.org (tamambrosius[at]aafs[dot]org)) for more information or to submit comments: 

• BSR/ASB BPR 177-202x, Canine Detection of Scent Identification Line-Ups. This new standard contains requirements for the training, certification, and documentation pertaining to canine teams (canine and handler) trained to conduct human scent lineups. Human scent lineups are canine examinations of human scent traces, in a comparative manner, to confirm the presence or absence of an association between objects or scent samples.
• BSR/ASB BPR 178-202x, Canine Detection of Electronic Storage Media. This new standard contains requirements for the training, certification, and documentation pertaining to canine teams (canine and handler) trained to conduct detection of media storage devices that include hard drives, Universal Serial Bus (USB) drives, micro secure digital (SD) cards, and subscriber identification module (SIM) cards.
• BSR/ASB BPR 179-202x, Canine Detection of Accelerants. This new standard contains requirements for the training, certification, and documentation pertaining to canine teams (canine and handler) trained to conduct the detection of accelerants. This standard covers accelerants to include: gasoline, light petroleum distillates, medium petroleum distillates, and high petroleum distillates.

ASTM 

• WK78732 Standard Test Method for Analysis of Biodiesel Products by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry is a work item revision to existing standard E2997-16 developed by Subcommittee E30.01.
• WK78736 Standard Practice for Identification of Seized Drugs is a work item revision to existing standard E2329-17 developed by Subcommittee E30.01.
• WK78737 Standard Practice for Quality Assurance of Laboratories Performing Seized-Drug Analysis is a work item revision to existing standard E2327-15e1 developed by Subcommittee E30.01.

NFPA

On October 8, 2021, a Project Initiation Notification System (PINS) was published on page five in the ANSI Standards Action. This will begin a 30-day period for public comment on the initiation of NFPA’s work on:

• BSR/NFPA 1321-202x, Standard for Fire Investigation Units. This new standard shall cover the minimum requirements relating to the establishment, structure, operation, and management of fire investigation units (FIUs). This standard shall not provide requirements relating to fire investigation methodology. This standard shall not provide requirements relating to professional qualifications of fire investigators. Contact Dawn Michele Bellis (dbellis [at] nfpa.org (dbellis[at]nfpa[dot]org)) for more information or to submit comments. 

Other Forensic Science News, Events & Training

AAFS 2022 Annual Scientific Conference

The American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) 74th Annual Scientific Conference will be held February 21-25 in Seattle, WA. AAFS 2022 will be a hybrid event, offering both in-person and virtual attendance options, and registration is now open. Visit the AAFS website for ongoing updates about the meeting. 

Call for Members for ASB Consensus Bodies

The ASB is currently accepting applications for the consensus bodies. Each CB consists of 7 to 25 members and creates and approves by consensus Forensic Standards, Best Practice Recommendations, Guidelines, and Technical Reports. The CBs also consider comments, views, and objections to ballots and resolve all comments received in connection with the development of documents. ASB CBs are open to all materially interested and affected individuals, companies, and organizations. If interested, please complete the application by November 19, 2021.

CSAFE

The Center for Statistics and Applications in Forensic Evidence (CSAFE) is offering the following webinars. Learn more and register.

• Using Mixture Models to Examine Group Differences: An Illustration Involving the Perceived Strength of Forensic Science Evidence | December 9, 2021 | 9:00 – 10:00 a.m. CST
• Improving Forensic Decision Making: A Human-Cognitive Perspective | February 17, 2022 | 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. CST

FTCoE

NIJ’s Forensic Technology Center of Excellence (FTCoE) provides evidence-based resources about forensic technologies and emerging challenges.

Check out the first episode of FTCoE’s Workforce Resiliency podcast and hear from OSAC’s Medicolegal Death Investigation Subcommittee Chair Kelly Keyes as she talks about workforce resiliency among medicolegal death investigators.

NIJ

Subscribe to the National Institute of Justice’s (NIJ) forensic list to see the latest NIJ awards, solicitations, events, and publications.