{"title":"A stain with all the fixing’s – Enhancement of fingermarks in blood using a combined fixative and aqueous protein stain","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.forsciint.2024.112181","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The use of protein stains to enhance fingermark ridge detail in blood is a common technique used by forensic practitioners around the world. Amido Black is one of the most favoured protein stains due to its strong staining ability. The most common formulation of Amido Black is methanol based, with an ability to simultaneously fix and stain the blood impression, however methanol is toxic and can disrupt some surfaces, potentially compromising fingermark detail. If the surface is suspected of being a material that is impacted by methanol, there is an alternative aqueous formulation, which requires a fixative step to set the blood prior to staining so as not to wash away potential ridge detail. The multi-step process of aqueous protein stains is tedious and numerous studies have been conducted to improve the formula to achieve a combined fixing/staining solution that performs like the methanolic reagent. A combined fixative and stain formulation of aqueous based Amido Black was compared to a multi-step formulation with a separate sulfosalicylic acid fixative. Of the 243 split fingermark impressions analysed the majority (63.5 %) showed no preference to either treatment, with a marginally greater proportion of the remaining marks slightly favouring the combined fixative and stain formulation. Given that the new combined formulation performed broadly similarly to the existing multi step formulation, the potential time savings of this simpler approach may be beneficial to implement into operational use.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":12341,"journal":{"name":"Forensic science international","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.2000,"publicationDate":"2024-07-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Forensic science international","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0379073824002627","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"MEDICINE, LEGAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The use of protein stains to enhance fingermark ridge detail in blood is a common technique used by forensic practitioners around the world. Amido Black is one of the most favoured protein stains due to its strong staining ability. The most common formulation of Amido Black is methanol based, with an ability to simultaneously fix and stain the blood impression, however methanol is toxic and can disrupt some surfaces, potentially compromising fingermark detail. If the surface is suspected of being a material that is impacted by methanol, there is an alternative aqueous formulation, which requires a fixative step to set the blood prior to staining so as not to wash away potential ridge detail. The multi-step process of aqueous protein stains is tedious and numerous studies have been conducted to improve the formula to achieve a combined fixing/staining solution that performs like the methanolic reagent. A combined fixative and stain formulation of aqueous based Amido Black was compared to a multi-step formulation with a separate sulfosalicylic acid fixative. Of the 243 split fingermark impressions analysed the majority (63.5 %) showed no preference to either treatment, with a marginally greater proportion of the remaining marks slightly favouring the combined fixative and stain formulation. Given that the new combined formulation performed broadly similarly to the existing multi step formulation, the potential time savings of this simpler approach may be beneficial to implement into operational use.
使用蛋白质染色剂来增强血液中的指痕脊细节是世界各地法医常用的一种技术。由于染色能力强,Amido Black 是最受欢迎的蛋白质染色剂之一。Amido Black 最常见的配方以甲醇为基础,能够同时固定和染色血印,但甲醇是有毒的,会破坏某些表面,可能会影响指痕细节。如果怀疑表面是受甲醇影响的材料,可以使用另一种水基配方,该配方需要在染色前进行固定步骤,以固定血迹,从而避免洗掉潜在的脊细节。水性蛋白质染色剂的多步骤过程非常繁琐,为了改进配方以获得与甲醇试剂性能相同的综合固定/染色溶液,人们进行了大量的研究。我们将水基 Amido Black 的组合固定剂和染色剂配方与单独使用磺基水杨酸固定剂的多步骤配方进行了比较。在分析的 243 个分离指印中,大多数(63.5%)对任何一种处理方法都没有偏好,而在剩余的指印中,偏好定影剂和染色剂组合配方的比例略高。鉴于新的组合配方与现有的多步骤配方性能大致相同,这种更简单的方法可能会节省时间,因此在实际应用中可能会有所帮助。
期刊介绍:
Forensic Science International is the flagship journal in the prestigious Forensic Science International family, publishing the most innovative, cutting-edge, and influential contributions across the forensic sciences. Fields include: forensic pathology and histochemistry, chemistry, biochemistry and toxicology, biology, serology, odontology, psychiatry, anthropology, digital forensics, the physical sciences, firearms, and document examination, as well as investigations of value to public health in its broadest sense, and the important marginal area where science and medicine interact with the law.
The journal publishes:
Case Reports
Commentaries
Letters to the Editor
Original Research Papers (Regular Papers)
Rapid Communications
Review Articles
Technical Notes.