Abstract:
This study investigated fibre movement within and out of a
search room, when performing a garment examination. The
effect of the collection procedure (taping v. scraping) on the
number of contaminant fibres produced, and the effectiveness
of a number of cleaning techniques and varying degrees of
examiner hygiene were also studied. Fibre movement was
found to be dependent upon distance, with fibre populations
decreasing with increasing distance from the garment
examination area. Most fibres were deposited during the actual
examination. Cotton fibres were more easily shed and also
found to be airborne for longer periods of time than wool,
acrylic and polyester fibres. The 'scraping method' of fibre
recovery was found to result in an increase in the number of
loose fibres with transfer to the examiner's clothing and a
number of fibres exiting the search room. It is unlikely that a
completely clean search room can be obtained. However, with
proper precautions it is possible to minimise and monitor the
contaminant fibre population. These features are presented and
discussed in this paper.
