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11.4: Visualization

  • Page ID
    53128
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    Many stains and chemicals will “fluoresce” using the ALS or forensic light source. So, just because the stain or chemical is emitting light does not necessarily mean you are looking at a biological fluid. With experience, you will recognize what you are looking at. For example, sweat looks like a foamy wave receding from a beach. Saliva looks like sweat only round or oval. Urine is a solid stain (and best visualized with true UV light). Semen looks like a fried egg and will have a distinctive pattern. Phosphates glow brightly, as does bleach.

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    Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): Semen on a sock visualized with a forensic light. Author's collection
    Same sock and illumination photographed in monochrome
    Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\): The above sock photographed in monochrome. Author's collection
    White tee shirt laid out on a table
     
    Close up of tee shirt near the neck and right arm openings with a ruler for scale
     
    Figure \(\PageIndex{3a/b}\): Saliva on a white T-shirt. Author's collection

     

    Circular stain from saliva splatter with ruler
    Figure \(\PageIndex{4}\): Saliva visualized using a forensic light. Author's collection
    Circular stain on fabric next to a ruler with fiducials
    Figure \(\PageIndex{5}\): The above stain photographed in monochrome. Author's collection

    Again, it is important to have knowledge of the appearance of bodily fluids being visualized under ALS. As mentioned, bleach and phosphates will fluoresce under ALS. Therefore, just because you are visualizing a result using ALS, what you might be visualizing is a product used for cleaning.

    A close up of a white fabric with an arc like stain
    Figure \(\PageIndex{6}\): Sweat visualized with 425nm ALS with a yellow filter and photographed in monochrome. Note the saliva to the right of the sweat stain. Author's collection

    ALS is perfectly matched with fluorescent fingerprint powders, which can be used for other applications besides the development of latent fingerprints. In the following photographs, you will observe a footwear impression deposited on a wood floor. The impression was enhanced using fluorescent orange magnetic powder and observed under 495nm forensic light using an orange barrier filter, followed by monochrome photography.

    Parquet floor with L shaped ruler with fiducial markings
    Clear image of a footprint when illuminated at 495 nm
    Even clearer image of the footprint when illuminated at 495 nm and photographed in monochrome
    Figure \(\PageIndex{7a/b/c}\): A developed footwear impression on a floor visualized visualized under 495nm and photographed in monochrome. Author's collection

    This page titled 11.4: Visualization is shared under a CC BY-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by David Doglietto.

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