EXPERIMENT 3 FORENSIC HAIR ANALYSIS

INTRODUCTION
Hair is an appendage of the skin that grows out of an organ known as the
hair follicle. It is a common form of trace evidence often used by forensic
investigation. Normally it is circumstantial or indirect evidence and must
be used in connection with other types of evidence and clues to help solve
a crime. The important part of hair is the shaft, which is composed of three
layer the cuticle, cortex and medulla is subjected the most intense
examination by the forensic scientist. There are a several characteristics
when examining the hair. These include color (pigments), cuticular scales,
shape of medulla and the medullary index. A careful microscopic
examination of hair reveals morphological features that can distinguish
human hair (head, face, eyebrow, eyelash, armpit, chest, leg, arm or pubic
hair) from the hair of animals.

OBJECTIVE
To describe the physical structure of the hair and the variations found
between human and non-human animal hair.

PROCEDURE
A. Examining and comparing cuticular scale patterns
The human hair and animal hair (cat) were selected to examine their cuticle.

A sliced of nail polish was placed in the center of a clean

microscope slide. Human hair was placed onto it after a little
bit dried.
The human hair was removed from the nail polish and was
examined under the microscope
The above step was repeated for animal (cat) hair.

B. Naturally shed vs forcibly removed hair

A naturally shed hair was obtained by combing the hair.

A forcibly removed hair was pulled from the hairs.

The root of the hairs was examined under the microscope.

C. Examination of cuts and damages in hair

i.

Examine cut ends of hairs using a clipper or a pair of scissors.

The end of hairs was cut by using a pair of scissors

The cut ends was examined under stereomicroscope and the
observation was recorded.
ii. Examine hair subjected to blunt violence using hammer.

The hair was hit in the middle of the shaft for 2 to 3 times by
using the hammer
The hit portion of the hair was placed onto the microscope
slide to be examined under the microscope. The observation
was recorded.
iii. Examine hair subjected to cut using a Rambo knife.

The end of hairs was cut by using a rambo knife.

The cut portion of the hair was placed onto the microscope
slide to be examined under the microscope. The observation
was recorded.

iv. Examine hair subjected to cut using a razor blade.

The end of hairs was cut by using a razor blade.

The cut portion of the hair was placed onto the microscope
slide to be examined under the microscope. The observation
was recorded.
v. Examine hair subjected to the effect of flame

The hair was exposed to flame from spirit lamp.

The exposed area of the hair shaft was placed onto the
microscope slide to be examined under the stereomicroscope.
The observation was recorded.
vi.

Examine hair subjected to the pressure effect of forceps or

tweezers.
A single strand of hair was held in between the fingers and the
shaft was pressurized in between the forceps or tweezers

The pressurized area of the hair was placed onto the

microscope slide to be examined under thestereo microscope.
observation
was recorded.
vii. The
Examine
hair subjected
to hand pulling.
A single strand of hair was held using hand, one end in one end
and the other end in another hand.
The hair was pulled in different direction until the hair was
broken

The pulled areaof the hair was placed onto the microscope
slide to be examined under thestereo microscope. The
observation was recorded.

RESULTS
1) Human hairs
ARMPIT HAIR 20X10

2)

EYELASHED HAIR 10X10

PUBIC HAIR 20X10

Damaged
hair

BURNED HAIR 10X10

EYEBROW HAIR 10X10

HEAD HAIR (FALLEN
HAIR) 20X10

HAMMERED HAIR
10X10

HAIR CUT BYHAIR

RAZOR
CUT BY RAMBO
BLADE 10X10 20X10

HAIR CUT BY SCISCORS

20X10

HORIZONTAL HAND
PULLING 20X10

VERTICAL HAND
PULLING 20X10

3) Normal animal (cat) hair

4) Cuticular scale pattern between human hair and animal hair (using
nail polish)

The medullary index :

CUTICULAR SCALE
PATTERN OF HUMAN
HAIR 40X10

Human
hair

CUTICULAR SCALE
PATTERN OF ANIMAL
HAIR 40X10

Diameter of hair =
3.0 cm
Diameter of medulla =
0.5 cm

diameter of medulla
diameter of hair

0.5
3 .0

= 0.2 ( if the medullary index is less than 0.3 it showed the human
hair )

Animal hair

Diameter of medulla =
1.5 cm

Diameter of hair =
2.0 cm
diameter of medulla
diameter of hair

1.5
3.0

= 0.75 ( if the medullary index is less than 0.5 it showed the animal
hair )
QUESTIONS
1. What physical characteristics of the hair did you use to help
distinguish one type from another? Support with specific
examples from your observations.
- The physical characteristics of the hair are including the colour
which is the pigment, shape of medulla, cutical scale and the
medullary index. For example the medullary index of humans
hair is less than 0.3 while for the animals hair is greater than 0.5.

2. Explain why hair is considered circumstantial evidence

instead of a positive means of identification as fingerprints
are.
- Circumstantial evidence is any evidence that requires some
reasoning or inference in order to prove a fact. This type of
evidence is sometimes referred to as indirect evidence and it
may have more than one explanation or lead to more than anoe
-

conclusion.
Hair is encountered as physical evidence in a wide variety of
crimes. The important of hair as physical evidence cannot be
underemphasized. Its removal from the body often denotes

physical contact between a victim and perpetrator.

When hair is properly collected at the crime scene and submitted
to the laboratory along with enough standard samples, it can
provide strong corroborative evidence for placing an individual at
a crime site because of the DNA obtained at the follicle of the
hair.

3. Even

though

considered

circumstantial,

why

is

hair

considered important evidence? Give examples to support

your point.
- Human hair is one of the most frequently found pieces of
evidence at the scene of a violent crime. It can provide a link
-

between the criminal and the crime.

From hair, one can determine:
o If the source is human or animal
o Race(sometimes)
o Origin of the location on the sources body
o Whether the hair was forcibly removed
o If the hair has been treated with chemicals
o If drugs have been ingested

4. What differences did you find between human and animal

hairs?
- Human hairs are generally consistent in color and pigmentation
throughout the length of the hair shaft, whereas animal hairs may
-

exhibit radical color changes in a short distance, called banding.

For the cuticle, human hair is imbricate (flattened) while animal
hair varies by species, but can be spinuous or coronal.

5. What have you learned about hair that you did not know
before? Be specific.
- It is about the phases of hair growth. Human head hair grows in
three development stages which are anagen, catagen and
telogen. The shape and size of the hair root is determined by the
growth phase in which the hair is happen to be. Hair is known to
-

grow at a rate of approximately one centimeter (1 cm) per month.

Anagen is astage of hair is actively growing. Catagen is stage of
hair is not growing or called a resting phase while telogen is the

stage where the follicle id getting ready to push the hair out.
The hair at the telogen phase does not contain any DNA
compared to anagen and catagen phase which have DNA that
obtained from the follicle of the hair.

6. How can you apply what you have learned from this
investigation to a criminal investigation? Be specific and
support your answers with clear examples.
- In this investigation, we can know that the different cut and
damages hair will give the different tip. So from that we can know
the real cause of the damage hair when observed the tip of the
hair under microscope. For example the hair were damaged by
-

scissor cut, razor blade cut, broken hair, burned hair or else.
Other than that, by measured the medullary index which the
diameter of medulla will divide by the diameter of the hair, we
can differentiate the hair between animal hair and human hair.
Medullary index for human hair is generally less than 1/3 while for
animal hair it is usually greater than 1/2.

REFERENCES

1. Yeshion. T, The Myths of Circumstantial Evidence. Retrieved on May 13,

2016 from http://www.theforensicteacher.com/Evidence.html

2. CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE, Retrieved on May 13, 2016 from

http://legaldictionary.net/circumstantial-evidence/
3. Lab manual FRS531 Physical Evidence page 13-21.
4. Notes Hair Analysis Crime Scene Documentation FRS531.
5. CRIMINALISTIC An Introduction to Forensic Science, Chapter 10
(Evidentiary Value of Hair and Fibers ) pages 249-259