Single Hair Reveals Where You’ve Been
By admin • Feb 27th, 2008 • Category: Health
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The chemical structure of your hair can reveal where in the U.S. you’ve been.
According to a new study by University of Utah researchers, water molecules found in human hair closely resemble those in the tap water people drink.
In other words, subtle regional differences in tap water show up in your hair.
Researchers hope their new discovery will help police solve crimes – to track the movements of suspected criminals or murder victims.
The technique is already being used in one US county to identify a murdered woman in Utah.
The new technique can’t identify the city or town where someone has been living, but it can tell the general geographic areas where they stayed and drank local water.
The test relies on isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen derived from local tap water which find their way into hair.
Utah researchers found significant variations in these isotopes relating to where people live.
The study is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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