§ Mr. Eldon Griffithsasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what advances have been made in activation analysis techniques of identifying men and women from samples of human hair; and if he will make a statement on the work being done on behalf of his Department by atomic scientists in the Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston.
§ Mr. Roy JenkinsThe Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston has been conducting research on behalf of the Home Office into the possibility of identifying persons by their head hairs. The object has been to assess the value of trace elements in human hair in forensic examinations. Neutron activation analysis has been developed as a technique for this purpose, and the work has included a study of the variation of hairs from a single head as well as from a representative sample of the population.
The research so far has shown that, although the composition of hairs from one person varies, sufficiently large differences exist between individuals for the method to provide useful forensic evidence in certain circumstances. The research has also shown that variations in the composition of hair can occur with time and other factors. Further study is 312W now being given to these matters and to the question whether sufficient progress has been made to justify applying this technique to current cases.