Ink dating is a significant problem in terms of forensic science. Ballpoint pens are generally used as writing tools on the documents. Aging is determination of the changes in dyes and solvents in the composition of ink over time by analytical methods. The evaporation of the solvents from the paper surface is faster than the decomposition process of the dyes. In this study, in 2017, we were asked by the court to determine whether the texts on the suspicious pages of an agenda dated 1996 were written within 2 years or earlier. Phenoxyethanol and dyes were examined in the composition of all suspected ink samples. The results show the determination of both the decomposition process of the dyes and the evaporation process of phenoxyethanol in the aging of the document entries written by ballpoint pen.
Ink age determination is the determination and interpretation of the structure of the ink on a document by using advanced analytical methods. Over time, the dyestuff in the structure of the ink go through demethylation, solvents get evaporated and resins get polymerized. These changes can be determined easily with chromatographic and spectroscopic methods. In this study, five cases that were transferred to the court with the objection of five individuals working in the same firm are examined. Employees claim that the factory made them sign the vacation book on the same day including the retroactive dates although they had not taken their vacation. What the court asked us is whether the writing, numbers and signatures on the pages of the annual paid leave book, which belonged to five individuals, had been written at the same time or at different times. The structures of the inks in the ink samples taken from writings, figures and signatures on the pages of annual paid leave book belonging to five individuals that work in the same company were analyzed by High Pressure Liquid Chromatography analysis. The results were evaluated in terms of age by using dye compound ratio technique.
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