The effects of sun exposure on colorant identification of permanently and semi-permanently dyed hair
Abstract During bloating and active decay, human remains begin to deform and warp their physical identity. After the skin and muscles loosen and detach from their skeletal structuration, everything but bones, teeth, and hair will fully disintegrate into the soil that surrounds the body. Nearly half...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2023-02-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-29221-8 |
| _version_ | 1811165963513495552 |
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| author | Aidan Holman Dmitry Kurouski |
| author_facet | Aidan Holman Dmitry Kurouski |
| author_sort | Aidan Holman |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract During bloating and active decay, human remains begin to deform and warp their physical identity. After the skin and muscles loosen and detach from their skeletal structuration, everything but bones, teeth, and hair will fully disintegrate into the soil that surrounds the body. Nearly half of people in the world dye their hair with a variety of permanent and semi-permanent colorants. Expanding upon this, we hypothesized that confirmatory analysis of hair colorants can be used to facilitate and advance forensic analysis of human remains. A growing body of evidence suggests that hair colorants can be identified directly on hair using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). In this study, we investigate the extent to which SERS can be used to detect black and blue permanent and semi-permanent dyes on hair exposed to sunlight. Our results showed that although substantial photodegradation of all dyes was observed by week 7, SERS enabled highly accurate detection and identification of hair colorants during all 10 weeks of hair exposure to the sunlight with on average 99.2% accuracy. We also found that SERS could be used to predict fading rates of hair colorants. This information can shed light on the exposure of human remains to the exterior environment. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T15:45:47Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-dac7b1e32cbf40b9bb554ead81b7b48e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T15:45:47Z |
| publishDate | 2023-02-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-dac7b1e32cbf40b9bb554ead81b7b48e2023-02-12T12:11:04ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222023-02-011311610.1038/s41598-023-29221-8The effects of sun exposure on colorant identification of permanently and semi-permanently dyed hairAidan Holman0Dmitry Kurouski1Department of Entomology, Texas A&M UniversityDepartment of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Texas A&M UniversityAbstract During bloating and active decay, human remains begin to deform and warp their physical identity. After the skin and muscles loosen and detach from their skeletal structuration, everything but bones, teeth, and hair will fully disintegrate into the soil that surrounds the body. Nearly half of people in the world dye their hair with a variety of permanent and semi-permanent colorants. Expanding upon this, we hypothesized that confirmatory analysis of hair colorants can be used to facilitate and advance forensic analysis of human remains. A growing body of evidence suggests that hair colorants can be identified directly on hair using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). In this study, we investigate the extent to which SERS can be used to detect black and blue permanent and semi-permanent dyes on hair exposed to sunlight. Our results showed that although substantial photodegradation of all dyes was observed by week 7, SERS enabled highly accurate detection and identification of hair colorants during all 10 weeks of hair exposure to the sunlight with on average 99.2% accuracy. We also found that SERS could be used to predict fading rates of hair colorants. This information can shed light on the exposure of human remains to the exterior environment.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-29221-8 |
| spellingShingle | Aidan Holman Dmitry Kurouski The effects of sun exposure on colorant identification of permanently and semi-permanently dyed hair Scientific Reports |
| title | The effects of sun exposure on colorant identification of permanently and semi-permanently dyed hair |
| title_full | The effects of sun exposure on colorant identification of permanently and semi-permanently dyed hair |
| title_fullStr | The effects of sun exposure on colorant identification of permanently and semi-permanently dyed hair |
| title_full_unstemmed | The effects of sun exposure on colorant identification of permanently and semi-permanently dyed hair |
| title_short | The effects of sun exposure on colorant identification of permanently and semi-permanently dyed hair |
| title_sort | effects of sun exposure on colorant identification of permanently and semi permanently dyed hair |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-29221-8 |
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