Journal de médecine légale

Body Fluids and Spectroscopic Techniques in Forensics: A Perfect Match?

Abstract

Félix Zapata, Inês Gregório, Carmen García-Ruiz

Human body fluids are of great interest in forensics, due to the possibility to extract their genetic information. At the moment, there is the need to develop a non-destructive, rapid and user-friendly method for the detection and identification of the body fluids usually found at crime scenes: blood, semen, vaginal fluid, saliva, sweat and urine. In this review, the spectroscopic techniques used or being researched on this topic are discussed, taking into account their advantages, limitations and advances. Although, UV-Vis light sources are used worldwide in forensic laboratories for the location of body fluids, they are not selective enough to be confirmatory. HSI, FTIR and Raman spectroscopy seem to be suitable for the identification and discrimination of body fluids, though comprehensive research about some unsolved aspects must be performed first.