Human Hair Examination

1. Introduction

Hair examinations and comparisons, as generally conducted by forensic scientists, often provide important investigative and associative information. Human and animal hairs have been used in forensic investigations for over a century. Reports abound in the literature concerning the use of human and animal hairs encountered in forensic casework. These guidelines represent a recommended procedure for the forensic examination, identification, and comparison of human hair. Hairs are readily available for transfer, easily transferred, and resilient. Hair examination may be used for associative and investigative purposes and to provide information for crime scene reconstruction. The ability to perform a forensic microscopical hair comparison is dependent on a number of factors.

• These factors include the following:
• Whether an appropriate known hair sample is representative.
• The range of features exhibited by the known hairs.
• The condition of the questioned hair.
• The training and experience of the hair examiner.
• The usage of the appropriate equipment and methodology.
• DNA analysis can be performed on hair but should be performed only after an initial microscopical assessment. A full and detailed microscopical comparison with possible known sources of