Variation in elemental composition of human teeth and its application for feasible species identification.
Forensic Sci Int
; 271: 33-42, 2017 Feb.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-28056377
ABSTRACT
Identifying human remains is a primary task in forensic science. In this study, we propose a possible new technique, handheld X-ray fluorescence (HHXRF), for determining whether a suspected tooth is an authentic human tooth. A total of 444 teeth obtained from 111 human skulls (male=62, female=49) aged between 30-67 years (51.81±8.37 years) were used as subjects. The teeth were scanned by HHXRF to acquire their elemental profile. Differences in elemental composition were analyzed for different tooth positions (numbers 1-32), between crown and root, and between sexes (male and female); also, the proportion of elements in relation to different human ages was examined. Teeth from 20 different animal species, serving as non-human teeth samples, were used to distinguish between human and non-human teeth through a stepwise discriminant analysis. Our results revealed that different tooth positions, different regions (crown and root) of a tooth, and different sexes demonstrated disparities in the proportion of several elements. The accuracy rate of predicting sex based on the elemental profile of human teeth was 65.5%. Likewise, a dissimilar distribution of elements between human and non-human teeth was observed, leading to a high degree of correctness of 83.2% for distinguishing them. In conclusion, elemental analysis by HHXRF could serve as a promising candidate tool for identifying human teeth in forensic science, but is ineffective for sex determination.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Especificidade da Espécie
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Espectrometria por Raios X
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Dente
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Elementos Químicos
Tipo de estudo:
Diagnostic_studies
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Prognostic_studies
Limite:
Adult
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Aged
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Animals
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Female
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Humans
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Male
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Middle aged
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Forensic Sci Int
Ano de publicação:
2017
Tipo de documento:
Article