bodily fluids

Question 1

what is bodily fluids?

Answer 1

The body fluids could be secreted or excreted and therefore encountered as forensic evidence. Various liquids are ex/secreted by or present within the body at any given time.

Question 2

what type of evidence is Excreted?

Answer 2

faeces, vomit, urine, by products of metabolism (products are those that are dispelled as waste by the body)

Question 3

what type of evidence is secreted

Answer 3

e.g. blood/plasma, semen, saliva (these are the kind of transferred from one area of the body to another)

Question 4

what are the bodily fluids that are typically useful in forensics?

Answer 4

blood which is secreted, is typically the most commonly encountered bodily fluid in a forensic event.
Saliva which is really useful because we can control DNA samples from suspects, can be encountered in different types of crime scenes.
Semen is specific type of forensic event which is usually included in sexual assault cases.

Question 5

how is bodily fluids used in forensic application?

Answer 5

We can use the bodily fluids to identify people that are involved and try to reconstruct the events of what happened, prior to those fluids being deposited.

Question 6

what is forensic pathology?

Answer 6

Cause, manner, and time since death
E.g. stomach contents/ vomit analysis
E.g. estimating time since death using vitreous humour

Question 7

what is locard’s principle?

Answer 7

‘every contact leaves a trace’

Question 8

how is detection done with bodily fluids

Answer 8

alternative light sources (ALS)
chemical agents (luminol)

Question 9

what is the forensic appraoch

Answer 9

1. Presumptive tests: indicate potential source
2. Confirmatory tests: conclusively identify type of biological material
3. Downstream analyses: individualise (DNA)

Question 10

how do we collect bodily fluids?

Answer 10

Documentation
Sensitive techniques - swabs, tapes, cuttings.
Measures to avoid cross-contamination