A team of researchers at the University of Surrey, in collaboration with the National Centre of Excellence in Mass Spectrometry Imaging at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) and Ionoptika, found that a single fingerprint left at a crime scene could be used to determine whether someone has touched or ingested class A drugs.
In a paper published in the Royal Society of Chemistry's Analyst journal, the team revealed how they have been able to identify the differences between the fingerprints of people who touched cocaine compared with those who have ingested the drug. The smart science behind the advance is the mass spectrometry imaging tools applied to the detection of cocaine and its metabolites in fingerprints.
Thanks to the high resolution mass spectrometry used by the researchers, Cocaine and its primary metabolite -- benzoylecgonine, can be imaged in fingerprints produced after either ingestion or contact with cocaine.
In forensic science, being able to understand more about the circumstances under which a fingerprint was deposited at a crime scene is important. This gives the opportunity to reconstruct more detailed information from crime scenes in the future. The new research demonstrates that this is possible for the first time using high resolution mass spectrometry techniques.
In a report published on the University of Surrey's website, Dr. Chelsea Nikula, Higher Research scientist, NPL, and senior author said: "This novel application of three different techniques illustrates the capabilities of mass spectrometry imaging to enable next generation forensics analyses reach information that weren't reachable before."
Dr. Melanie Bailey, reader in Forensic and Analytical Science at the University of Surrey, said: "Over the decades, fingerprinting technology has provided forensics with a great deal of information about gender and medication. Now, these new findings will inform forensics further when it comes to determining the use of class A drugs."
