A pollen calendar is used to show the peak
pollen times for different types of plant pollen, which causes
allergic reaction
Allergies, also known as allergic diseases, refer a number of conditions caused by the hypersensitivity of the immune system to typically harmless substances in the environment. These diseases include hay fever, food allergies, atopic derma ...
s in certain people.
In forensics
A pollen calendar can be a very useful tool in
forensic science, because it can be used to place the month, or week, or
date of death.
[E. Montali, A. Mercuri, G. Trevisan Grandi, and C. Accorsi. "Towards a 'crime pollen calendar'—Pollen analysis on corpses throughout one year." ''Forensic Science International'', Volume 163, Issue 3, pp. 211–223. Abstract found a]
ScienceDirect website
Accessed February 22, 2010. . The use of pollen for
criminal investigation
Criminal investigation is an applied science that involves the study of facts that are then used to inform criminal trials. A complete criminal investigation can include searching, interviews, interrogations, evidence collection and preservat ...
purposes is called "forensic
palynology
Palynology is the "study of dust" (from grc-gre, παλύνω, palynō, "strew, sprinkle" and ''-logy'') or of "particles that are strewn". A classic palynologist analyses particulate samples collected from the air, from water, or from deposit ...
".
[D.C. Mildenhall, P.E.J. Wiltshire, and V.M. Bryant. "Editorial: Forensic palynology." ''Forensic Science International'', Volume 163 (2006), pp. 161–162. Found a]
Texas A & M University website
(PDF). Accessed February 23, 2010.
However, the use of a pollen calendar to set the date of death should be used with extreme caution, and only by a carefully trained
expert witness
An expert witness, particularly in common law countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States, is a person whose opinion by virtue of education, training, certification, skills or experience, is accepted by the judge as ...
.
[Patricia E. J. Wiltshire. "Forensic Ecology, Botany, and Palynology: Some Aspects of Their Role in Criminal Investigation," in ''Criminal and Environmental Soil Forensics'' (Springer Netherlands 2009), pp. 129–149. (print), 978-1-4020-9204-6 (online). Found a]
SpringerLink website
Accessed February 23, 2010. . The
CSI effect has put pressure on some
police officer
A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...
s and
district attorneys to provide pollen-based
evidence, but such evidence "appear
to be of limited use in the forensic context where outcomes are scrutinised in
court
A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in acco ...
."
See also
*
Aeroallergen
*
National Pollen and Aerobiology Research Unit
*
Hay fever
References
{{reflist
External links
United States pollen calendars(Does not lead to any pollen calendars)
*
ttps://web.archive.org/web/20100112122229/http://www.allergy.org.nz/about+allergies/pollen+allergy.html New Zealand allergy pagesan
New Zealand pollen calendar (printable PDF)Australian pollen calendar (printable PDF)
Heuristics
Forensic techniques
Calendars