eprintid: 1433276 rev_number: 30 eprint_status: archive userid: 608 dir: disk0/01/43/32/76 datestamp: 2014-06-26 18:41:36 lastmod: 2021-10-04 00:47:49 status_changed: 2014-06-26 18:41:36 type: article metadata_visibility: show item_issues_count: 0 creators_name: Scott, KR creators_name: Morgan, RM creators_name: Jones, VJ creators_name: Cameron, NG title: The transferability of diatoms to clothing and the methods appropriate for their collection and analysis in forensic geoscience. ispublished: pub divisions: UCL divisions: B04 divisions: C05 divisions: F52 divisions: B03 divisions: C03 divisions: F26 keywords: Collection procedure, Diatoms, Forensic geoscience, Soil Collection procedure, Trace evidence, Transfer note: Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/). abstract: Forensic geoscience is concerned with the analysis of geological materials in order to compare and exclude environmental samples from a common source, or to identify an unknown provenance in a criminal investigation. Diatom analysis is currently an underused technique within the forensic geoscience approach, which has the potential to provide an independent ecological assessment of trace evidence. This study presents empirical data to provide a preliminary evidence base in order to be able to understand the nature of diatom transfers to items of clothing, and the collection of transferred diatom trace evidence from a range of environments under experimental conditions. Three diatom extraction methods were tested on clothing that had been in contact with soil and water sites: rinsing in water (RW), rinsing in ethanol (RE), and submersion in H2O2 solution (H). Scanning electron microscopy (S.E.M.) analysis was undertaken in order to examine the degree of diatom retention on treated clothing samples. The total diatom yield and species richness data was recorded from each experimental sample in order to compare the efficacy of each method in collecting a representative sample for analysis. Similarity was explored using correspondence analysis. The results highlight the efficiency of H2O2 submersion in consistently extracting high diatom counts with representative species from clothing exposed to both aquatic and terrestrial sites. This is corroborated by S.E.M. analysis. This paper provides an important empirical evidence base for both establishing that diatoms do indeed transfer to clothing under forensic conditions in a range of environments, and in identifying that H2O2 extraction is the most efficient technique for the optimal collection of comparative samples. There is therefore potentially great value in collecting and analysing diatom components of geoforensic samples in order to aid in forensic investigation. date: 2014-05-23 official_url: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2014.05.011 vfaculties: VSHS vfaculties: VENG oa_status: green full_text_type: pub language: eng primo: open primo_central: open_green article_type_text: JOURNAL ARTICLE verified: verified_manual elements_source: PubMed elements_id: 956411 doi: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2014.05.011 pii: S0379-0738(14)00209-6 language_elements: ENG lyricists_name: Cameron, Nigel lyricists_name: Jones, Vivienne lyricists_name: Morgan, Ruth lyricists_name: Scott, Kirstie lyricists_id: NGCAM51 lyricists_id: VJJON02 lyricists_id: RMORG06 lyricists_id: SCOTT45 full_text_status: public publication: Forensic Sci Int volume: 241C pagerange: 127 - 137 citation: Scott, KR; Morgan, RM; Jones, VJ; Cameron, NG; (2014) The transferability of diatoms to clothing and the methods appropriate for their collection and analysis in forensic geoscience. Forensic Sci Int , 241C 127 - 137. 10.1016/j.forsciint.2014.05.011 <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2014.05.011>. Green open access document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1433276/1/1-s2.0-S0379073814002096-main.pdf