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Photo‐ and Thermal‐Degradation Studies of Select Eccrine Fingerprint Constituents
Author(s) -
De Paoli Giorgia,
Lewis Sr. Samuel A.,
Schuette Ellyn L.,
Lewis Linda A.,
Connatser Raynella M.,
Farkas Tivadar
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of forensic sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.715
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1556-4029
pISSN - 0022-1198
DOI - 10.1111/j.1556-4029.2010.01420.x
Subject(s) - degradation (telecommunications) , urea , lactic acid , chemistry , amino acid , fingerprint (computing) , raman spectroscopy , polymerization , polymer chemistry , chromatography , organic chemistry , biochemistry , polymer , biology , computer science , telecommunications , physics , computer security , bacteria , optics , genetics
Photo‐ and thermal‐degradation studies on eccrine fingerprint components are presented herein. Dilute distinct solutions of urea, lactic acid, and seven amino acids were deposited on steel coupons and Teflon ® disks, exposed to artificial sunlight or heat, extracted, and analyzed. This aim of this study was to determine whether the investigated eccrine components, previously determined to be Raman active for a parallel study, experienced photo‐ or thermally induced degradation, and if so, to determine the rate and identify any detectable products. Neither the amino acids nor urea exhibited photo‐degradation; however, when heated for a period of three minutes, the onset of thermal‐degradation was initiated at 100°C for the amino acids and 100°C for urea. Lactic acid, the major polymerization initiator of superglue fuming, showed photochemical and thermal‐degradation. These results could be used for future development of new latent fingerprint visualization methods, especially when lactic acid is degraded.