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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