ABSTRACT
The general public's interest in hand sanitizers has soared after the covid-19 pandemic pestilence. This gave rise to the notion that the use of such hand sanitizers may hinder or enhance the visibility of developed fingerprints. Based on this hypothesis, a hand sanitizer was tested to see how it affected the detection of fingerprints left behind after use. Fingerprint detection techniques used included: ninhydrin, silver nitrate, iodine fuming and cyanoacrylate method. When hand sanitized fingerprints were compared to non-hand sanitized fingerprints, the alcohol-based hand sanitizers improved the visibility and quality of fingerprints developed with ninhydrin and iodine fuming, and marginally improved those developed with silver nitrate and cyanoacrylate method. To determine the longevity of improved developed quality, time since hand sanitizer application prior to fingerprint deposition was tested. According to the current research, the visibility and quality of fingerprints improved after application of hand sanitizer. It is hypothesised that the presence of alcohol in hand sanitizer clears the friction ridges, improving the visibility of the fingerprints when developed through ninhydrin, silver nitrate and iodine fuming. This enhancement was not observed in cyanoacrylate. Additionally, when aged in seven-time intervals of 10 minutes, 15 days, 1 month, 2 months, 4 months and 6 months, the latent fingerprints improved in visibility quality when compared with and without the application of hand sanitizer. It was clear that application of hand sanitizers before the fingerprint deposition affects the visibility and quality of the fingerprints on development. Also, the improved quality of hand sanitizers was compared between seven timeline-based intervals i.e., 10 minutes, 15 days, 1 month, 2 months, 4 months and 6 months. Further examination is needed to determine how the components of hand sanitizers influences the fingerprint development. Copyright © 2022, Medico Legal Society. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Background-The general public’s interest in hand sanitizers has soared after the covid-19 pandemic pestilence. This gave rise to the notion that the use of such hand sanitizers may hinder the visibility of developed fingerprints. Methodology-Based on this hypothesis, a hand sanitizer was tested to see how it affected the detection of fingerprints left behind after use. Fingerprint detection techniques used included: ninhydrin, silver nitrate, iodine fuming and cyanoacrylate method. Result and conclusion-When hand sanitized fingerprints were compared to non-hand sanitized fingerprints, the alcohol-based hand sanitizers improved the visibility of fingerprints developed with ninhydrin and iodine fuming, and marginally improved those developed with silver nitrate and cyanoacrylate method. To determine the longevity of improved developed quality, various parameters such as time since hand sanitizer application prior to fingerprint deposition was tested. © 2021, Medico Legal Society. All rights reserved.