Again, the famous cases of this century s end showed as an example that even within an important forensic laboratory, the supervision and peer-review was not considered as important as it should be. Therefore, it is important for the forensic scientist to ensure not only that valid procedures and methods are used, but also that they are applied properly. This will strongly contribute to an improvement of the quality of the work done by crime laboratories and thus, will greatly improve the image of the forensic sciences. Then, the forensic scientist not only has to perform analyses, but also has to understand and interpret the results obtained. Analyses are more and more sophisticated and constantly offer a decrease in the limit of detection.
Forensic sciences analyze yet smaller and more complicated samples than decades ago.
This is great because a smaller amount of sample is needed and a greater range of samples is available. On the other hand, this makes it more challenging to interpret the results. A recent case of a house fire, suspected as arson, revealed traces of gasoline on floor samples. The presence of gasoline strongly supported the hypothesis of the arson. However, further analyses showed that the gasoline contained lead and thus, was very likely there for a very long time and was not related to the fire.