Detection of Contact Traces of Powdery Substances

Abstract

The current practice in securing the contact traces of chemical substances taken from clothes belonging to a person suspected of manual handling explosives is focused on pockets and cuffs. The outerwear worn by people who had contact with fluorescent powders that simulate explosives and drugs was the subject of this study. Clothes were first exposed to the test substance for a period of time and then analyzed by fluorescence methods to determine the location of the highest quantity of traces. The results obtained from the study confirm that the areas with the highest concentration of powdery traces are different from those suggested by current forensic practice. They appear to be promising for a more efficient identification of the suspects involved in illegal manufacturing of drugs of abuse or explosives. Moreover, they may be helpful for developing the methodology for handling the evidence material in the forensic clothing examination process.

Analysis of Contact Traces of Cannabis by In-Tube Solid-Phase Microextraction Coupled to Nanoliquid Chromatography

“…For example, the presence of drug traces on clothes, packaging, skin, or vehicle interiors may be due to simple contact with the bulk drug during its production, transport, or consumption and may persist for relatively long periods of time. Thus, positive identification and characterization of drugs in these kinds of samples may play a significant role in criminal investigations, particularly in those related to drug trafficking [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. The main difficulty in the analysis of contact traces of drugs is the low amount of available sample (<1 mg) that is often only visible through microscopy.…”