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							| Forensic Anthropology


	

		
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				Vol. 5 No. 1 (2022)
			
		
	
							Research Articles
					



	
		

		
	
		
			Using Real Interpretative Differences to Assess Inter-laboratory Isotopic Variability Due to Sample Preparation
					

	

	

		

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												Published:
						Feb 24, 2022
					

																								
																																														
														DOI:
							
								https://doi.org/10.5744/fa.2020.0045
							
						

									
													
												Keywords:
						
							
																	forensic anthropology, 																	forensic science, 																	isotope analysis, 																	human bone collagen, 																	stable isotopes															
						

					

							


		

		
			

								Main Article Content


									
													
								Amelia J. Edwards
																	
										SNA International
									

																							

													
								Lesley A. Chesson
																	
										DPAA Laboratory, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, HI
									

																							

													
								Eric J. Bartelink
																	
										Department of Anthropology, University of California
									

																							

													
								Thuan H. Chau
																	
										SNA International
									

																							

													
								Gregory E. Berg
																	
										DPAA Laboratory, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, HI
									

																							

											

				
													
						Abstract

						
							Here we present a two-part study to assess isotope data comparability between two sample preparation laboratories, based on the concept of Real Interpretative Differences (RID). Inter-laboratory isotopic variability should be evaluated prior to compiling data from different sources. Isotopic variability can result from two main causes: sample preparation and sample analysis. We compared the carbon and nitrogen isotope delta (δ) values of 20 modern human bone collagen sample pairs—representing seven individuals from diverse backgrounds—that
were prepared close in time at two laboratories and then analyzed at one facility. From this study, values for RID of preparation, or RIDprep, were calculated for bone collagen as 0.43‰ and 0.75‰ for δ13C values and δ15N values, respectively. These RIDprep values were tested using a set of 30 bone collagen sample pairs—representing 30 modern individuals—that were first prepared over a span of five years (2014–2019) at one laboratory; they were prepared again at the second laboratory in 2019. While the differences in isotope δ values between the paired samples in the second study were statistically significant, they did not exceed the calculated RIDprep values for either carbon (30 comparisons) or nitrogen (30 comparisons)—with the exception of one carbon difference in a single paired bone sample. The inherent error rate in combining the isotope test results was thus calculated as 1.7%. This study demonstrated that the isotope data generated from human bone collagen prepared at one laboratory can be reliably compared to data generated from samples prepared at the other laboratory.

						

					

				
				

			

			

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