Yee, Koh Pei (2025) Recovery and persistence of latent fingermarks on food. Project Report. Universiti Sains Malaysia. (Submitted)
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Abstract
Fingermarks are important forensic evidence often found at crime scenes. In some cases, criminals leave half-consumed food at the crime scene, leaving behind latent fingermarks on the food’s surface that provide critical information for forensic investigations. However, recovery of latent fingermark from food items remains an underexplored area. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of various fingermark development techniques on different food substrates and examined the persistence of latent fingermarks over time. Ten food items with varying surface properties were selected, including kuih lapis, wrap, mantou, boiled egg, crab, clam, bread, popiah, fish ball, and hotdog. The study was conducted in two phases: a main experiment to determine the most effective development method and a persistence study evaluating fingermark survivability at 1, 6, and 24 hours of post-deposition on mantou and crab. Eight different development methods were used, namely non-magnetic powder, magnetic powder, small particle reagent (SPR), sudan black, amido black, crystal violet (CV), oil red-O (ORO) and ninhydrin. The findings indicated that the surface characteristics of food significantly influenced fingermark recovery. Smooth, non-porous surfaces such as mantou and crab shells yielded better results. In contrast, overly smooth surfaces such as eggshells and clam shells, along with sticky or oily substrates like kuih lapis and fried popiah presented challenges. Sudan black and ninhydrin were identified as the most effective development techniques. The persistence study revealed that fingermarks remained detectable for up to 24 hours, with notable degradation over time. The study highlighted that developing fingermark from food item is both possible and persistent, making it a factor that should not be overlooked in real forensic cases.
| Item Type: | Monograph (Project Report) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Fingermarks |
| Subjects: | R Medicine R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA1001 Forensic Medicine. Medical jurisprudence. Legal medicine |
| Divisions: | Kampus Kesihatan (Health Campus) > Pusat Pengajian Sains Kesihatan (School of Health Sciences) > Thesis |
| Depositing User: | MUHAMMAD AKIF AIMAN AB SHUKOR |
| Date Deposited: | 28 Oct 2025 02:40 |
| Last Modified: | 17 Nov 2025 02:48 |
| URI: | http://eprints.usm.my/id/eprint/63101 |
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