COMPARISON OF FLUORESCAMINE, O-PHTHALADELHYDE, AND NINHYDRIN FOR THE DETECTION AND VISUALIZATION OF LATENT FINGERPRINTS

• NCJ Number: 61877
• Journal: Journal of Police Science and Administration Volume: 7 Issue: 3 Dated: (SEPTEMBER 1979) Pages: 333-335
• Author(s): H C LEE; A E ATTARD
• Date Published: 1979
• Length: 3 pages
• Corporate Author: International Assoc of Chiefs of Police
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: PRESENTED AT THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF IDENTIFICATION, AUSTIN, TEXAS, JULY 1978

Annotation

AN EXPERIMENT IS DESCRIBED IN WHICH FLOURESCAMINE, O-PHTHALALDEHYDE, AND NINHYDRIN WERE COMPARED FOR THEIR ABILITY TO DETECT AND VISUALIZE LATENT FIGERPRINTS.

Abstract

RESULTS OF AN EXPERIMENT WHERE CHEMICALS WERE SPRAYED ONTO A LATENT FINGERPRINT AREA SHOWED THAT AMINO ACIDS, PEPTIDES, PROTEINS, AND UREA ARE OFTEN PRESENT IN LATENT FINGERPRINT RESIDUE THROUGH CONTACT WITH FRICTION RIDGES. CURRENTLY, NINHYDRIN IS USED TO PRODUCE VISUALIZATION OF LATENT PRINTS, ALTHOUGH OBJECTS WITH BACKGROUND COLOR WILL NOT PRODUCE SUFFICIENT CONTRAST. ALTHOUGH, IN THE EXPERIMENT, FLUORESCAMINE AND O-PHTHALALDEHYDE PROVED MORE SENSITIVE THAN NINHYDRIN AND GAVE BETTER CONTRAST ON DARK AND MULTICOLORED SURFACES, THEY WERE FOUND TO BE LESS STABLE. TABULAR DATA ARE INCLUDED. (MJW)