Department of Forensic Medicine, Monash University, Australia.
Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Australia.
Forensic Sci Int. 2023 Aug;349:111771. doi: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2023.111771. Epub 2023 Jun 24.
Radiocarbon dating is a useful tool in the examination of unknown human remains. Recent studies have shown that the analysis of hair and nail samples can provide a highly accurate estimation of the year of death (YOD). However, little research has examined factors that may influence the uptake and storage of C in these tissues, such as diet, or the use of beauty products. This study measured the level of C in human hair and nail samples collected from living individuals to determine whether diet, and the use of hair dye or nail polish, has a significant impact on the estimation of YOD. The results of this study showed that diet did not appear to impact the radiocarbon content in human hair and nail, and thus should not be considered a limitation when analysing samples obtained from unidentified human remains. The use of nail polish, and in the majority of cases, hair dye, did not significantly impact the C concentration in nails and hair. While the results of this study are preliminary, they suggest that in most cases, both hair and nail can be successfully analysed using radiocarbon dating to estimate an individual's YOD. However, best practice should involve the analysis of multiple tissue types, to minimise any error that may be introduced as a result of the decedent's use of beauty products.
放射性碳测年是检查未知人类遗骸的有用工具。最近的研究表明，对头发和指甲样本的分析可以提供对死亡年份（YOD）的高度准确估计。然而，很少有研究检查可能影响这些组织中 C 的摄取和储存的因素，例如饮食或美容产品的使用。本研究测量了从活体个体收集的人类头发和指甲样本中的 C 水平，以确定饮食以及使用染发剂或指甲油是否对 YOD 的估计有重大影响。这项研究的结果表明，饮食似乎不会影响人类头发和指甲中的放射性碳含量，因此在分析从身份不明的人类遗骸中获得的样本时不应将其视为限制因素。指甲油的使用，而且在大多数情况下，染发剂不会显着影响指甲和头发中的 C 浓度。虽然这项研究的结果是初步的，但它们表明在大多数情况下，可以成功地使用放射性碳测年分析头发和指甲来估计个体的 YOD。然而，最佳实践应包括分析多种组织类型，以最大程度地减少由于死者使用美容产品而可能引入的任何误差。
