Jamal@A Jalal, Siti Noriha
(2020)
A survey of vehicle topcoat colour frequency and chemical profiling of paint chips for forensic comparison.
Masters thesis, Universiti Sains Malaysia.
Abstract
Forensic examination of car paint related evidence collected from a crime scene
could be used to link between people, objects and/or places. This study was aimed to
investigate the vehicle topcoat colour frequency and the chemical profiling of paint chips
for forensic comparison. The first phase of the study involved a survey of the vehicle
topcoat colour in two areas within a day and with different days. Subsequently, the second
phase involved analysis of paint chip samples obtained from the varying parts of the same
car and different cars carrying the same topcoat colour using Attenuated Total
Reflectance-Fourier Infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. The survey showed that white,
black, and light gray colours were the most common encountered vehicle topcoat colours
in the research area, namely in Johor Bahru. Two vehicles with light gray colour and two
vehicles of white colour are chosen for sampling regardless its brand for analysis. ATRFTIR
spectroscopy result had successfully generated the profiles of the paint chips tested
in this study. It was found that the ATR-FTIR profiles collected from the same car were
shown to be very similar and located closely in the score plot. On the other hand, paint
chips collected from different cars could have different profiles. From this study, it was
noted that the topcoat colour determination by witness or victim, particularly related to
vehicular accidents, shall be interpreted carefully to assist the forensic investigation and
interrogation. It was also suggested that the colour information of a vehicle could serve as
an initial lead for investigative team in tracing the vehicle. Paint chip samples were also
very useful to differentiate the source of forensic evidence
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