HOW DO I SMELL? THE POTENTIAL OF BODY ODOR IN HUMAN PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION
Keywords:
human scent, volatile organic compounds, SPME-GC/MSAbstract
The ability of canines to discriminate among individuals lead scientists to believe, a long time ago, that every human has a unique scent. Development of physico-chemical analytical techniques enabled testing and further researching these expectations. Sensitive and reliable SPME-GC/MS method allows detection and identification of volatile organic compounds comprising individual scent, whose presence in odor is constant and can, therefore, be used for personal authentication. Ongoing studies further demonstrate the efficiency of chemical sensors, such as the E-nose, in real-time personal recognition. In this paper, factors defining human scent, as well as the possibility of utilizing body odor as a novel biometric identifier, were presented. Advantages and limitations of mentioned techniques, as well as future directions for experimental studies, were also considered. Finally, the possibility of utilizing body odor in police work for locating human remains and sniffing out the wrongdoers was given.
References
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Curran, A. M., Prada, P. A., Schoon, A. A., Almirall, J. R. & Furton, K. G. (2005). Human Scent as a Biometric Measurement. Biometric Technology for Human Identification II, 5779, 398-408. doi:10.1117/12.603820.
Curran, A. M., Rabin, S. I., Prada, P. A. & Furton, K. G. (2005). Comparison of the Volatile Organic Compounds Present in Human Odor Using SPME-GC/MS. Journal of Chemical Ecology, 31(7), 1607-1619. doi:10.1007/s10886-005-5801-4.
Curran, A. M., Ramirez, C. F., Schoon, A. A. & Furton, K. G. (2007). The frequency of occurrence and discriminatory power of compounds found in human scent across a population determined by SPME-GC/MS. Journal of Chromatography B, 846(1-2), 86-97. doi:10.1016/j.jchromb.2006.08.039.
Curran, A. M., Prada, P. A. & Furton, K. G. (2010). The Differentiation of the Volatile Organic Signatures of Individuals Through SPME-GC/MS of Characteristic Human Scent Compounds. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 55(1), 50-57. doi:10.1111/j.1556-4029.2009.01236.x.
DeGreeff, L. E. & Furton, K. G. (2011). Collection and identification of human remains volatiles by non-contact, dynamic airflow sampling and SPME-GC/MS using various sorbent materials. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, 401(4), 1295-1307. doi:10.1007/s00216-011-5167-0.
Dormont, L., Bessière, J. M. & Cohuet, A. (2013). Human Skin Volatiles: A Review. Journal of Chemical Ecology, 39(5), 569-578. doi:10.1007/s10886-013-0286-z.
Fredricks, D. N. (2001). Microbial Ecology of Human Skin in Health and Disease. Journal of Investigative Dermatology Symposium Proceedings, 6(3), 167-169. doi:10.1046/j.0022-202x.2001.00039.x.
Gallagher, M., Wysocki, C. J., Leyden, J. J., Spielman, A. I., Sun, X. & Preti, G. (2008). Analyses of volatile organic compounds from human skin. British Journal of Dermatology, 159(4), 780-791. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2133.2008.08748.x.
Gao, Z., Tseng, C., Pei, Z. & Blaser, M. J. (2007). Molecular analysis of human forearm superficial skin bacterial biota. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104(8), 2927-2932. doi:10.1073/pnas.0607077104.
Iskandarani, M. Z. (2010). A Novel Odor Key Technique for Security Applications Using Electronic Nose System. American Journal of Applied Sciences, 7(8), 1118-1122. doi:10.3844/ajassp.2010.1118.1122.
Korotkaya, Z. (2003). Biometric Person Authentication: Odor. Downloaded May 28, 2019. http://www.it.lut.fi/kurssit/03-04/010970000/seminars/Korotkaya.pdf.
Kusano, M., Mendez, E. & Furton, K. G. (2011). Development of headspace SPME method for analysis of volatile organic compounds present in human biological specimens. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, 400(7), 1817-1826. doi:10.1007/s00216-011-4950-2.
Li, S. (2009). Overview of Odor Detection Instrumentation and the Potential for Human Odor Detection in Air Matrices. Downloaded May 28, 2019.
http://www.mitre.org/sites/default/files/pdf/09_4536.pdf.
Oyeleye, C. A., Fagbola, T. M., Babatunde, R. S. & Adigun, A. A. (2012). An Exploratory Study Of Odor Biometrics Modality For Human Recognition. International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology, 1(9), 1-9.
Penn, D. J., Oberzaucher, E., Grammer, K., Fischer, G., Soini, H. A., Wiesler, D., Novotny, M. V., Dixon, S. J., Xu, Y. & Brereton, R. G. (2007). Individual and gender fingerprints in human body odour. Journal of The Royal Society Interface, 4(13), 331-340. doi:10.1098/rsif.2006.0182.
Prada, P. A., Curran, A. M. & Furton, K. G. (2015). Human Scent Evidence. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
Randerson, J. (2008, December 3). The smell of fear is real, say scientists. The Guardian. Accessed on March 19, 2019.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2008/dec/03/fear-smell-pheromone
Rodriguez-Lujan, I., Bailador, G., Sanchez-Avila, C., Herrero, A. & Vidal-de-Miguel, G. (2013). Analysis of pattern recognition and dimensionality reduction techniques for odor biometrics. Knowledge-Based Systems, 52, 279-289. doi:10.1016/j.knosys.2013.08.002.
Wongchoosuk, C., Lutz, M. & Kerdcharoen, T. (2009). Detection and Classification of Human Body Odor Using an Electronic Nose. Sensors, 9(9), 7234-7249. doi:10.3390/s90907234.
Wongchoosuk, C., Youngrod, T., Phetmung, H., Lutz, M., Puntheeranurak, T. & Kerdcharoen, T. (2011). Identification of People from Armpit Odor Region using Networked Electronic Nose. Defense Science Research Conference and Expo (DSR), proceedings book (1-4), Singapore: IEEE. doi:10.1109/dsr.2011.6026826.
Wood, A. P. & Kelly D. P. (2010). Skin Microbiology, Body Odor, and Methylotrophic Bacteria. Handbook of Hydrocarbon and Lipid Microbiology. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-77587-4_243.
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Published
2020-07-14
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Innovative Techniques and Equipment in Forensic Engineering
