Abstract

Background: Fingermarks can be used to profile donors by providing details about their gender, age, lifestyle, and interaction with illegal substances. Chemical constituents in the fingermarks can reveal significant information about the fingerprint’s origin, which is particularly beneficial in situations where the donor’s identity is unclear or the print is smudged, deformed or unclear. Aim: To study the exogenous and endogenous substance present in the fingermarks of individuals with respect to their lifestyles. Material and Methods: In this study, the latent fingermarks donated by 42 individuals of Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, India were analyzed using Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometry to determine the exogenous and endogenous constituents present respectively. Results: Multivariate technique of Principal Component Analysis was applied on the GC data. Further, Hierarchical Cluster Analysis and K means Cluster technique were applied on the results of PCA, to validate the results. PCA showed that the high-dimensional data could be summarized in a few principal components, with the first two components capturing over 27% of the total variance. The biplot showed that the samples are not randomly distributed but instead form discernible groups, with some samples being chemically similar and other samples being distinct outliers. K-Means clustering provided a quantitative validation by assigning each sample to one of three distinct clusters, which were consistent with the visual groupings from both the PCA and HCA plots. Conclusion: It can be effectively stated that an individual’s daily lifestyle and occupation have a significant influence on the exogenous and endogenous constituents of his finger mark. Key Message: Donor profiling using chemical constituents of fingermarks, is anticipated to become a common practice in the near future as part of the crime scene investigation.

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