Use of stains to detect fingermarks

Abstract

Detection of fingermarks at a crime scene or on related items is of prime interest for forensic investigators, mainly for identification purposes. Most of the fingermarks are invisible to the naked eye, however. The application of detection techniques is required to establish visual contrast between the secretion residue and the underlying substrate. We give here a review of the field related to the concept of using stains to detect fingermarks. A distinction has been made between the physically driven classical detection techniques, the chemically driven ones, and those based on nanostructured materials, an emerging field in forensic science.

Key words::

• amino acid
• blood
• detection method
• dye
• fingermark
• fingerprint
• forensic
• science
• identification
• lipid
• luminescence
• nanoparticle
• powder
• trace evidence

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF) for supporting the research in the field of new fingermark detection reagents based on luminescent nanoparticles (Ambizione grant no. PZ00P2_121907/1).

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.