Lab-on-a-lift –cyanoacrylate fuming of gelatin lifters for the non-destructive determination of the deposition order between fingermarks and printed toner

The development of latent fingermarks on documents is a critical component of forensic investigations. There are several established techniques that allow for the development of fingermark deposits on this substrate type. Providing contextual information, however, such as the chronological sequence of fingermark deposition relative to printed information, is an area that is far less understood. This study builds upon previous work that explored the application of gelatin lifters to a document surface, followed by exposure to disulfur dinitride within the RECOVER™ system. The proof-of-concept study described herein utilises the same gelatin lifter medium, but alongside cyanoacrylate (superglue) fuming to provide a simpler, effective and accessible approach to determine the deposition order of fingermark deposits and printed toner. These findings highlight a potential practical innovation that integrates two commonly used forensic techniques and further expands on work to address one of the great challenges of forensic document and dactyloscopic examination.