Geochemical Fingerprinting for Supply Chain Transparency

 

Project summary

Globally, an estimated twenty-eight million people are trapped in forced labor. The construction industry has been identified as a particularly large and high-risk sector. While recent legislation renews the U.S. government's commitment to ending imports produced using forced labor, enforcement remains a challenge without supply chain transparency.

Our research aims to develop a framework for geochemically identifying and/or verifying the origin of imported cement and its constituent materials. Using a variety of geochemical signatures we aim to create unique fingerprints for cements of different origins, as well as explore the possibility of linking cement back to geological source formations.

Driving questions

  • How are geochemical signatures in the cement finished product being driven by different raw materials?

  • Can geochemical measures be used to form distinct fingerprints for cements of different origins?

  • How might we link cement measurements to specific raw material source formations?

Project team

  • Antonio Torres Skillicorn, PhD student, CEE

  • Prof. Sarah Billington, CEE

  • Prof. Tiziana Vanorio, Earth & Planetary Sciences

  • Prof. Jonathan Payne, Earth & Planetary Sciences

  • Karrie Weaver, SIGMA Lab, Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability

Our Funders

 
 
Ethical Supply Chains, OngoingSarah Billington