Glass particles in footwear of members of the public in south-eastern Australia--a survey.
A total of 776 pairs of shoes collected from random members of the public in south-eastern Australia were examined for the presence of glass fragments. From the samples collected a total of 110 fragments were recovered from 57 pairs of shoes (7.3% of the pairs examined). This study shows that the prevalence of glass fragments in footwear is dependent upon the area of the shoe from which the fragments were recovered. A much higher percentage of shoes were found to have fragments embedded in the sole (5.9%) than in the upper area of the shoe (1.9%). These shoes were also more likely to have multiple fragments from multiple sources of glass. Only a very small percentage of shoes contained fragments in both the upper and the sole (0.3%). These findings and their significance for the interpretation of glass evidence involving footwear are discussed in this study.
Roux
C
C
Department of Chemistry, Materials and Forensic Science, University of Technology Sydney, P.O. Box 123, NSW 2007, Broadway, Australia. claude.roux@uts.edu.au
Kirk
R
R
Benson
S
S
Van Haren
T
T
Petterd
C I
CI
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D001315:Australia; D003415:Crime / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D005554:Forensic Medicine / Q000379:methods*; D005898:Glass / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012031:Refractometry; D012494:Sampling Studies; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012775:Shoes