Differentiation of the Volatile Organic Signatures of Individuals Through SPME-GC/MS of Characteristic Human Scent Compounds

• NCJ Number: 229681
• Journal: Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 55 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2010 Pages: 50-57
• Author(s): Allison M. Curran, Ph.D.; Paola A. Prada, B.S.; Kenneth G. Furton, Ph.D.
• Date Published: January 2010
• Length: 8 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study describes the development of what is effectively a human scent barcode consisting of the relative ratios of an individual's "primary odor" compound utilized to determine a reproducible and individualizing profile which can be stored in a searchable database for a proof of concept of human scent as a biometric measure.

Abstract

Human scent evidence is utilized as an investigative tool through canine scent discrimination based on the premise that human scent is an individualizing characteristic. Triplicate hand odor samples were evaluated from 10 subjects utilizing solid phase micro-extraction gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (SPME-GC/MS) and compared via Spearman Rank Correlations. Narrowing the compounds considered for each subject to only those common in all three samples, or a subject's "primary odor constituents," produced a greater degree of both individualization and discrimination; at both correlation thresholds of 0.9 and 0.8, the individuals were correctly discriminated and identified in 99.54 percent of the cases. 5 tables, 1 figures, and 52 references (Published abstract)