Forensic palynology

Forensic palynology is a subdiscipline of palynology (the study of pollen grains, spores, etc.), to prove or disprove a relationship among objects, people and places that pertain to both criminal and civil cases.

Pollen can reveal where a person or object has been, because regions of the world, countries, and even different parts of a garden will have a distinctive pollen assemblage.[1] Pollen evidence can also reveal the season in which a particular object picked up the pollen.[2] Pollen has been used to trace activity at mass graves in Bosnia,[3] catch a burglar who brushed against a Hypericum bush during a crime,[4] and has been proposed as an additive for bullets to enable tracking them.[5]

As an example of use in investigation of homicides, a dead body may be found in a wood. The clothes may contain pollen that was released after death (the time of death can be determined by forensic entomology). If it is found to be from a place other than where the body was found, this indicates that the body was moved after death.

References

Vaughn M. Bryant. "Forensic Palynology: A New Way to Catch Crooks". Archived from the original on 3 February 2007.
Robert Stackhouse (17 April 2003), "Forensics studies look to pollen", The Battalion, archived from the original on 23 April 2013
Peter Wood (9 September 2004), "Pollen helps war crime forensics", BBC News, retrieved 4 January 2010
D. Mildenhall (2006), "Hypericum pollen determines the presence of burglars at the scene of a crime: An example of forensic palynology", Forensic Science International, 163 (3): 231–235, doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2005.11.028, PMID 16406430
"Newscripts", Chemical & Engineering News, 86, 33, 18 August 2008, p. 88

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[bryant-1] Vaughn M. Bryant. "Forensic Palynology: A New Way to Catch Crooks". Archived from the original on 3 February 2007.

[2] Robert Stackhouse (17 April 2003), "Forensics studies look to pollen", The Battalion, archived from the original on 23 April 2013

[3] Peter Wood (9 September 2004), "Pollen helps war crime forensics", BBC News, retrieved 4 January 2010

[4] D. Mildenhall (2006), "Hypericum pollen determines the presence of burglars at the scene of a crime: An example of forensic palynology", Forensic Science International, 163 (3): 231–235, doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2005.11.028, PMID 16406430

[5] "Newscripts", Chemical & Engineering News, 86, 33, 18 August 2008, p. 88