The Effect of Light Exposure on the Degradation of Latent Fingerprints on Brass Surfaces: The Use of Silver Electroless Deposition as a Visualization Technique

We have studied the degradation of sebaceous fingerprints on brass surfaces using silver electroless deposition (SED) as a visualization technique. We have stored fingerprints on brass squares either (i) in a locked dark cupboard or (ii) in glass‐filtered natural daylight for periods of 3 h, 24 h, 1...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Journal of forensic sciences Vol. 59; no. 5; pp. 1368 - 1371
Main Authors:	Payne, Imogen C., McCarthy, Imogen, Almond, Matthew J., Baum, John V., Bond, John W.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	United States Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-09-2014 Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
Subjects:	AGING MECHANISMS Brasses cyanoacrylate fuming Cyanoacrylates Degradation DEPOSITION Electroless deposition ELECTROLESS PLATING fingerprint degradation fingerprint regeneration Fingerprints forensic science Forensic sciences latent fingerprint Latent fingerprints Prints Silver silver electroless deposition Visualization forensic science fingerprint degradation cyanoacrylate fuming silver electroless deposition fingerprint regeneration latent fingerprint
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	We have studied the degradation of sebaceous fingerprints on brass surfaces using silver electroless deposition (SED) as a visualization technique. We have stored fingerprints on brass squares either (i) in a locked dark cupboard or (ii) in glass‐filtered natural daylight for periods of 3 h, 24 h, 1 week, 3 weeks, and 6 weeks. We find that fingerprints on brass surfaces degrade much more rapidly when kept in the light than they do under dark conditions with a much higher proportion of high‐quality prints found after 3 or 6 weeks of aging when stored in the dark. This process is more marked than for similar fingerprints on black PVC surfaces. Identifiable prints can be achieved on brass surfaces using both SED and cyanoacrylate fuming (CFM). SED is quick and straightforward to perform. CFM is more time‐consuming but is versatile and can be applied to a wider range of metal surfaces than SED, for example brass surfaces which have been coated by a lacquer.
Bibliography:	ark:/67375/WNG-XZ0R2W6B-L ArticleID:JFO12524 istex:617CE5BE2FF4CDCB2B9F87D0E91BC9D5F144DCB9 ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0022-1198 1556-4029
DOI:	10.1111/1556-4029.12524