BASIC HAIR SCREENING

The FTS Basic Hair Screening Proficiency Test is designed to challenge the forensic trace evidence analyst or biologist who routinely screens human hair samples to determine whether a sample is of human origin. It is designed for the analyst who performs limited microscopic hair examinations and does not compare and exclude human hairs from subsequent DNA analysis due to microscopic characteristics in relation to a known source. Samples consist of questioned human hairs, animal hairs, or other materials to determine human vs. non-human origin, whether or not tissue is present, and somatic origin for human hairs. All distributed samples are examined by two subcontracted court qualified examiners to ensure homogeneity between test samples.