Burning Hair Reveals Identity
A new forensic test using hair could help identify people within a couple of minutes.
A single strand of hair at a crime scene can provide DNA evidence for investigators. But DNA analysis can take time, and is only immediately useful if a match is found in an existing data base. But Dr. Diane Beauchemin, a Professor of Analytical Chemistry at Queen's University in Kingston, has pioneered a new technique for looking at hair. Hair samples are washed, ground, then burned in a furnace. The resulting vapour is analysed for the chemicals that make their way into hair through sweat glands. Varying amounts of chemicals, including zinc, magnesium, sulphur and strontium, are an indication of gender and ethnicity. Although the process cannot pinpoint an individual, it can narrow a search field quickly, as the entire process takes only 85 seconds.
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