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Exclusion with Limitations

the result of a comparison between two hair samples in which the characteristics of the questioned hair differ from those present in the known hair sample, and therefore the donor of the known sample cannot be included as a possible source of the questioned hair.

Discussion—This result is reached in a comparative hair examination when differences are noted in the macroscopic or microscopic characteristics between the questioned and known hairs; however, the differences are insufficient for an absolute exclusion of a person as a possible source. This could be due to the natural variation that occurs in hairs as a biological specimen, the effect that time or environment can have upon a hair, or the reference sample does not capture the complete variation of the individual’s hair.

Committee
Trace Materials
Date Added to Lexicon
Standard Source (Designation Number Title of Standard. Publisher, Place, Year.)
ASTM E3175-23 Standard Practice for Training in the Forensic Examination of Hair by Microscopy. ASTM International, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, West Conshohocken, PA 19428, 2023. Source link
Reprinted, with permission, from ASTM, copyright ASTM International, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, West Conshohocken, PA 19428. A copy of the complete standard may be purchased from ASTM International, https://www.astm.org