Stain removers and their effect on the colorimetric presumptive testing of bloodstains on washed clothing
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Authors
Sapinoso, Emy Lynn C.
Issue Date
2005
Type
Thesis
Language
en
Keywords
Forensic Sciences
Alternative Title
Abstract
The effect of commercial stain removers on human bloodstains, applied to nine fabric types, including stain-resistant clothing, and the performance of color-based presumptive tests for blood were evaluated in this study.
Comparing untreated, washed fabrics to fabrics treated with Spray ‘n Wash® and fabrics treated with Shout® gave a significance level of <0.01. This significance level was also seen comparing fabrics treated with Spray ‘n Wash® to fabrics treated with OxiClean®. Evaluating untreated stains to stains treated with OxiClean®, the significance level is <1, indicating little effect of using OxiClean® on bloodstains.
The chance of a positive result on stained, untreated, washed, stain-resistant clothing, using phenolphthalein and tetramethylbenzidine is 83%. Overall, a 59.9% possibility of yielding positive results on stained, treated and washed fabric was observed.
The results of this study signify that it’s possible to detect blood on clothing that has been treated with a stain remover and washed.