USDOE Human Subjects Research Database, fiscal year 1995

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Project Identifier: ORNL-94-33

Project Title:

Development of Methods to Obtain Fingerprints from Children for Forensic Applications

Principle Investigator: Dr. K B. Jacobson

Project started in: 1994

Fiscal Year 1995 Funding for Research on Human Subjects:

Project Funding Information:
Project received funding in Fiscal Year 1995.
Project used human subjects in Fiscal Year 1995.

Funding Sources:

DOE: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)

Amount: $50,000 (Est.)

Information on Use of Human Subjects:

Project does not involve use of multiple protocols/subprojects.

IRB Review:
Type of Review: Full Board
Most Recent Approval: August 03, 1995

Number of Human Subjects in the Last Reporting Period for this Project: 24
(Reporting periods vary.)

Type of Human Subjects Involvement:

Collection of Bodily Materials:

Collection of personally identifiable bodily materials (blood or blood products, cells, tissue, organs, waste).

• Use of bodily materials collected from subjects specifically for this project.

Other use of human subjects:

Sweat collected from fingertip skin surfaces, as well as fingerprint and palmprint deposits on glass surfaces.

(a. Objectives, b. Methodology, c. Ionizing Radiation, Radioactive Substances, or Chemical Substances to which human subjects are exposed, d. Involvement of Human Subjects [d.1. procedures used, d.2. risks if any])

a. Current technology available to law enforcement agencies is very effective at obtaining adult fingerprints from various surfaces, but the fingerprints of prepuberty adolescents do not persist on surfaces. This research will examine the chemical composition of fingerprints and develop methods to detect the smaller, and possibly different, residues from children's fingerprints.

b. Standard methods of collecting sweat will be employed using water and/or isopropanol treated swabs to remove material from the skin surfaces. Also, fingerprint and palmprint deposits on glass surfaces will be analyzed; these will be collected by allowing the child to grasp the cleaned glass surface for a few moments. The contents and composition of the skin surface samples will be examined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, chemical fluorescence, direct mass spectrometry, and standard analytical techniques.

c. Isopropanol as a skin swab.

d1. See item b.

d2. None of the methods will employ invasive techniques. Child identity will be kept anonymous by coding the samples.