Quality of Latent Fingermark on Contaminated Porous Surface Over 1 Month Exposure

Abstract

Recovering latent fingermarks from crime scenes is vital, but their quality and recoverability depend on various factors including sweat composition, substrate, and environmental conditions. While much research focuses on environmental effects on fingermark aging, there's limited attention on how pre-deposition substrate contaminants influence degradation over time. This study addresses this gap by investigating the effect of pre-deposition soil contamination on porous substrates (paper) and its influence on fingermark quality over a 28-day aging period.