Pollen calendar

A pollen calendar is used to show the peak pollen times for different types of plant pollens which cause allergic reactions in certain people.[1][2][3]

In forensics

A pollen calendar can be a very useul tool in forensic science, because it can be used to place the month, or week, or date of death.[4][5] The use of pollen for criminal investigation purposes is called "Forensic palynology".[6][7]

However, the use of a pollen calendar to set the date of death should be used with extreme caution, and only by a carefully trained expert witness.[8] The CSI effect has pressured on some police officers and District Attorneys to provide pollen-based evidence, but "these appear to be of limited use in the forensic context where outcomes are scrutinised in court."[8]

See also

References

  1. Food Allergens website. Accessed February 22, 2010.
  2. Health on the Net Foundation (HON)
  3. National Pollen and Aerobiology Research Unit of the UK
  4. E. Montali, A. Mercuri, G. Trevisan Grandi, C. Accorsi, "Towards a 'crime pollen calendar'—Pollen analysis on corpses throughout one year", Forensic Science International, Volume 163, Issue 3, Pages 211-223, abstract found at Elsevier website. Accessed February 22, 2010.
  5. Ray Palmer, "THE FORENSIC EXAMINATION OF FIBRES – A Review: 2004 to 2007," Interpol paper, p. 80, found at Interpol website (Pdf). Accessed February 22, 2010.
  6. D.C. Mildenhall, P.E.J. Wiltshire, and V.M. Bryant, "Editorial: Forensic palynology," Forensic Science International 163 (2006) 161–162, found at Texas A & M University website (pdf). Accessed February 23, 2010.
  7. Towards a “crime pollen calendar”—Pollen analysis on corpses throughout one year
  8. 1 2 Patricia E. J. Wiltshire, "Forensic Ecology, Botany, and Palynology: Some Aspects of Their Role in Criminal Investigation," in Criminal and Environmental Soil Forensics, (Springer Netherlands 2009) ISBN 978-1-4020-9203-9 (Print) 978-1-4020-9204-6 (Online), pp. 129-149, found at Springer Link website. Accessed February 23, 2010.

External links

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