Under The Microscope: Palynology

 

 

In its inception, “pollen analysis” (palynology) was principally the assessment of pollen grains and spores. Pollen grains are best understood as the containers which embody the male gametophyte promulgatory portion of the seed plants (angiosperms and gymnosperms). Spores, on the other hand, are the resting and dispersal stages of a cryptogam/fruiting body (pteridophytes, bryophytes, algae, and fungi). The science of palynology has evolved to include, in addition to spores and pollen, a variety of plant and animal microfossils and micro-organics.

 

In 1944 Hyde and Williams, acknowledging the expanding science of pollen and spore analysis, originated the term palynology to embrace this expanding science. For the duration of the 1940s, palynology, though still concerned largely with the science of modern spores and pollen, also included forms recovered from sediments and coals. Hence, the expression “the study of acid resistant microfossils” is sometimes substituted for the term palynology. Eventually, other resistant micro-forms/organics that survived the acid preparation process of hydrochloric acid (HCl), hydrofluoric acid (HF), and other inorganic caustic chemicals, were loosely referred to as palynomorphs. Indeed, as the science of palynology is now defined, a palynomorph can refer to spores, pollen, chitinozoa, polychaete worm jaws, acritarchs, algal cysts, and animal and vegetable tissues. Though used in investigations as far–ranging as climatic change studies to allergy studies, the fledgling science of palynology found its first broad support with petroleum exploration companies in the 1950s, where its usefulness was described as near magical. This predominance of the use of palynologists by petroleum exploration companies continues today. Presently, and in conjunction with technological expansion, we are on the eve of a new revelation in palynology — forensic palynology.

 

It has long been recognized that the toughness of the organic structure of palynomorphs, specifically spores and pollen, enhances their survivability. Pollen analysis of a transient’s shirt revealed it was covered with fresh pollen, especially in the area of the shoulders. This information indicated that the transients had recently run through a field of maize in bloom. The only such field in the area was located between where the murder victim’s car was abandoned and the town where the transients were arrested. However, the transients stated that they had never been near the location in question. Subsequent to the palynology report, investigators questioned people living and working near the maize field. Several positive identifications from this follow–up investigation, as well as the corn pollen identification, led to a confession of the murder by the transients. In the following example of a brutal murder case, the victim’s hands and feet had been removed by the assailant in an effort to prevent fingerprint identification. A search of the area where the body was recovered revealed no clues to the victim’s place of origin or the geographic location where the murder took place. However, recovered clothing from the body was tested using forensic palynology, which revealed palynoflora indicating an area nearly 100 miles north of the area where the body was found. That information narrowed the search locale and aided investigators in pinpointing the area where the victim lived, and eventually the scene of the crime. Civil, misdemeanor, and other such cases of less tragic consequences are also amenable to forensic palynology. In one such case in New Zealand, a suspect fled the scene of a crime on a motorcycle.The motorcycle became stalled on a muddy hillside, where the suspect abandoned it and fled on foot. Later, the suspect arrived at the local precinct and tried to reclaim the motorcycle, saying that it had been stolen from his home the previous evening. Denying that he had ever been in the area where the motorcycle had been abandoned, the suspect allowed the police to search his home, where they recovered a pair of muddy boots. The mud on the boots contained an identical grouping of palynomorphs to that collected from the muddy hillside. In a case in England, a product advertised as “Yorkshire Clover Honey” was suspected of being adulterated. A palynological investigation revealed that in addition to palynomorphs typical of the Yorkshire area of England, the honey contained significant portions of four other pollen types indigenous to Eastern Europe. It was determined that the majority of the honey originated in Eastern Europe, and the party was charged and found guilty under the British Trades Description Act. 

 

Forensic palynology has even been used in zoning disputes of local jurisdictions. A large medical manufacturing company in the midwest had located its facilities in a rural setting to reduce problems with airborne contaminants and reduce costprohibitive air filtration during the manufacturing of its product. Years later, a local quarry operator sought to open a new facility a few miles from the medical manufacturing company, with access to and from the quarry being a new two lane gravel road passing less than a quarter mile from the medical manufacturing company. The quarry operator’s argument was that their travel on the gravel road would not produce additional par ticulates in the air than what would be produced seasonally by the cornfields surrounding the medical manufacturing company. Corn pollen, generally spherical, and large in comparison with other pollen types, does not travel a significant distance in any great numbers. Instead, it falls from the corn flowers at the top of the plant to pollinate the ears of corn directly below. Conversely, the dust and particulate matter placed into the air by the passing trucks would stay suspended and travel great distances. Resultant knowledge of the pollination style of corn crops and the travel of micellular particles on air currents led the local jurisdiction to deny the application of the quarry operator, thus saving substantial expense by the medical manufacturing company on new filtration equipment.

 

Overall, documented forensic palynology cases are few and far between in the United States. Currently, the only country that seems to have fully tapped the enormous potential of forensic palynology and the acceptance of palynomorph evidence in civil and criminal court cases is New Zealand, though Australia and Malaysia are initiating programs. In an effort to learn why forensic palynology was not more widely used.

 

Pollen and spore production within a given area and environment is of great significance to the forensic palynologist. If one has knowledge of the production and dispersal patterns of pollen and spores of indigenous plants in a given geographical area, then one knows what palynomorph assemblages would be expected for samples collected from a specific locale. For example, samples examined from a given area not exhibiting the expected palynomorph assemblage, as well as the presence of other palynomorph assemblages in atypical numbers, could suggest an anomaly. This anomalous pattern gives the forensic palynologist clues, and indicates the need for scrutiny. As a corollary to known production and dispersal patterns of the indigenous plants of a given geographical area, a perimeter/location customarily bears a palynological marker endemic to its floral occupants. Just as individuals decorate and bring familiar objects into their dwelling, they tend to bring into their living environment palynomorph-producing objects specific to their wants and desires. To verify this human propensity, one only has to drive through any suburb and notice the shrubs, flowers, grasses, and other such plants to establish that each dwelling has a specific owner as well as additional occupants. This is also true of the outside palynomorphs brought into the dwelling, and may even indicate a particular place of employment. As an example, consider the rapist or burglar concealed in the shrubs and flower beds outside his intended victim’s residence. The forensic investigator may have a crude indication of foot prints in the soil, indicating the suspect’s place of concealment, but little other evidence to tie the offender to the scene of the crime. However, recovered palynomorphs from the clothes and shoes of an offender may indicate a palynomorph assemblage specific to the scene of the transgression or concealment. Such forensic palynological investigations may also provide clues to a supposed fight between victimizer and victims in a garden area, or articles of clothing dropped in one area and transported to another area where they are recovered by investigators. The potential for the use of palynology incorporated into forensic investigations is endless. However, as in all scientific procedures, certain protocols and collection procedures must be maintained and adhered to. 

 

Acknowledgements:

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