Recovery and detection of methamphetamine-contaminated fingermarks in forensic settings

Fingermarks are usually invisible and could be contaminated by exogenous substances such as drugs. Whenever there are drug-related crimes, either clandestine drug manufacturing or distribution and abuse of illicit drugs, fingermark, and the drug substances are the two important pieces of forensic ev...

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Main Author:	Sarifudin, Sarah Aliah Amir
Format:	Thesis
Language:	English
Published:	2023
Subjects:	R Medicine
Online Access:	http://eprints.usm.my/59961/1/SARAH%20ALIAH%20BINTI%20AMIR%20SARIFUDIN-%20FINAL%20THESIS%20P-SKD001317%28R%29-E.pdf
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record_format	uketd_dc
spelling	my-usm-ep.599612024-03-17T08:01:37Z Recovery and detection of methamphetamine-contaminated fingermarks in forensic settings 2023-05 Sarifudin, Sarah Aliah Amir R Medicine RA1001 Forensic Medicine. Medical jurisprudence. Legal medicine RA440-440.87 Study and teaching. Research Fingermarks are usually invisible and could be contaminated by exogenous substances such as drugs. Whenever there are drug-related crimes, either clandestine drug manufacturing or distribution and abuse of illicit drugs, fingermark, and the drug substances are the two important pieces of forensic evidence where their evidential values shall be maximised. This study aimed to investigate the detection of methamphetamine-contaminated fingermarks in forensic settings. In this study, fingermarks were developed on eleven types of surface materials using black and white fingerprint powders. The effect of the presence of methamphetamine towards the recovery and interpretation of the fingermark, as well as the immediacy of deposition either as a fingermark deposited on a priorly methamphetamine-contaminated surface or a fingermark deposited on a clean surface but subsequently contaminated by the methamphetamine, were also investigated. The application of fingerprint powder was good in developing fingermarks from any surface; however, its suitability depends on the nature of the surface materials. The choice of fingerprint powders significantly affected the fingermark scoring with F (1, 122.22) = 301.834, p < 0.001. Black fingerprint powder produced better visualisation where the fingermarks on all the eleven surface materials tested in this study were successfully recovered compared to white fingerprint powders; however, fingermarks appeared on quartz countertops and brown melamine particle board surfaces were found more difficult to be recovered. Methamphetamine-contaminated fingermarks could still be recovered using the fingerprint powdering method, but the scoring of fingermarks could be reduced due to an exogenous substance. In determining the immediacy of deposition, methamphetamine crystals at the exterior of the fingermark residue and the distinct separations between the ridge and non-ridge areas of the fingermark could suggest the prior-deposition contaminated fingermark under a scanning electron microscope. Simon’s chemical test, UV-Vis spectrophotometry, and gas chromatography methods were useful in detecting the presence of methamphetamine from the surface-sampled samples. The fingerprint powder particles were less likely to interfere with the positive detection. No association was found between the application of fingerprint powder and the positive detection of methamphetamine by Simon’s test (p = 0.709). To conclude, techniques for detecting illicit methamphetamine-contaminated fingermarks were successfully established. 2023-05 Thesis http://eprints.usm.my/59961/ http://eprints.usm.my/59961/1/SARAH%20ALIAH%20BINTI%20AMIR%20SARIFUDIN-%20FINAL%20THESIS%20P-SKD001317%28R%29-E.pdf application/pdf en public phd doctoral Universiti Sains Malaysia Pusat Pengajian Sains Kesihatan
institution	Universiti Sains Malaysia
collection	USM Institutional Repository
language	English
topic	R Medicine R Medicine R Medicine
spellingShingle	R Medicine R Medicine R Medicine Sarifudin, Sarah Aliah Amir Recovery and detection of methamphetamine-contaminated fingermarks in forensic settings
description	Fingermarks are usually invisible and could be contaminated by exogenous substances such as drugs. Whenever there are drug-related crimes, either clandestine drug manufacturing or distribution and abuse of illicit drugs, fingermark, and the drug substances are the two important pieces of forensic evidence where their evidential values shall be maximised. This study aimed to investigate the detection of methamphetamine-contaminated fingermarks in forensic settings. In this study, fingermarks were developed on eleven types of surface materials using black and white fingerprint powders. The effect of the presence of methamphetamine towards the recovery and interpretation of the fingermark, as well as the immediacy of deposition either as a fingermark deposited on a priorly methamphetamine-contaminated surface or a fingermark deposited on a clean surface but subsequently contaminated by the methamphetamine, were also investigated. The application of fingerprint powder was good in developing fingermarks from any surface; however, its suitability depends on the nature of the surface materials. The choice of fingerprint powders significantly affected the fingermark scoring with F (1, 122.22) = 301.834, p < 0.001. Black fingerprint powder produced better visualisation where the fingermarks on all the eleven surface materials tested in this study were successfully recovered compared to white fingerprint powders; however, fingermarks appeared on quartz countertops and brown melamine particle board surfaces were found more difficult to be recovered. Methamphetamine-contaminated fingermarks could still be recovered using the fingerprint powdering method, but the scoring of fingermarks could be reduced due to an exogenous substance. In determining the immediacy of deposition, methamphetamine crystals at the exterior of the fingermark residue and the distinct separations between the ridge and non-ridge areas of the fingermark could suggest the prior-deposition contaminated fingermark under a scanning electron microscope. Simon’s chemical test, UV-Vis spectrophotometry, and gas chromatography methods were useful in detecting the presence of methamphetamine from the surface-sampled samples. The fingerprint powder particles were less likely to interfere with the positive detection. No association was found between the application of fingerprint powder and the positive detection of methamphetamine by Simon’s test (p = 0.709). To conclude, techniques for detecting illicit methamphetamine-contaminated fingermarks were successfully established.
format	Thesis
qualification_name	Doctor of Philosophy (PhD.)
qualification_level	Doctorate
author	Sarifudin, Sarah Aliah Amir
author_facet	Sarifudin, Sarah Aliah Amir
author_sort	Sarifudin, Sarah Aliah Amir
title	Recovery and detection of methamphetamine-contaminated fingermarks in forensic settings
title_short	Recovery and detection of methamphetamine-contaminated fingermarks in forensic settings
title_full	Recovery and detection of methamphetamine-contaminated fingermarks in forensic settings
title_fullStr	Recovery and detection of methamphetamine-contaminated fingermarks in forensic settings
title_full_unstemmed	Recovery and detection of methamphetamine-contaminated fingermarks in forensic settings
title_sort	recovery and detection of methamphetamine-contaminated fingermarks in forensic settings
granting_institution	Universiti Sains Malaysia
granting_department	Pusat Pengajian Sains Kesihatan
publishDate	2023
url	http://eprints.usm.my/59961/1/SARAH%20ALIAH%20BINTI%20AMIR%20SARIFUDIN-%20FINAL%20THESIS%20P-SKD001317%28R%29-E.pdf
_version_	1794024071038500864

Recovery and detection of methamphetamine-contaminated fingermarks in forensic settings

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