Spray and peel forensic sampling

Forensic sampling of surfaces currently relies on a wipe with a cotton gauze but there are concerns about cross contamination and the loss of certain organic compounds. Brad Pindzola's group from TIAX in the US, has analysed several strippable coatings as potential alternatives and shown that each system tested collects more than cotton gauze.

Spray on, strippable coatings have been developed for a range of applications, from surface protection to decontamination and are usually based on some sort of co-polymer mix that cures when they are sprayed on and the solvent evaporates. Pindzola has shown that three commercially available formulations could be used to lift off nearly all surface residues and deliver 85–95% for analysis, up to three-fold more than cotton gauze.