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Survivability of Human Scent

NCJ Number
218699
Author(s)
Rex A. Stockham; Dennis L. Slavin; William Kift
Date Published
October 2004
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This paper describes a new and innovative approach that uses human-scent evidence to identify bomb-makers and arsonists.
Abstract
The study demonstrates that human scent survives and persists under the extreme mechanical and thermal effects associated with the explosion and burning of various energetic materials. The study also established the ability of specially trained bloodhound-handler teams to match the collected scent with the person whose scent was detected at the explosion scene. The experiment did not address the durability of human scent as a function of physical parameters such as the surface temperature of materials. In addition, conditions encountered by bloodhound-handler teams during crime-scene responses are never identical. This experiment reflected conditions encountered in an urban setting. Four pipe bombs and two gas containers were used for scent articles. The 12 test subjects selected had not been used in any previous training or testing. Most target and decoy pairs were the same sex and age. In order to deposit scent, the targets handled their respective items for approximately 1 to 2 minutes, placed the items into resealable bags, and closed and labeled them. During the explosion and collection process, the bomb technicians and scent-pad collectors were monitored by the test planners to minimize any scent cross-contamination. Scent pads were collected from the pipe-bomb debris by placing the fragments onto the STU-100 and running the machine for approximately 30 seconds. Scent pads were collected from the arson debris by placing the STU-100 intake funnel inside each bag and running the machine for approximately 30-90 seconds. For the identification of the target person, a "yes" was recorded if the dog trailed to and alerted on the person at the end of the trail. 7 references