Investigation of the potential of using pollen isolated from vehicle air filters as evidence in forensic cases

Forensic palynology is a field of science that provides the use of pollen and other palynomorph evidence obtained from a crime scene as evidence in criminal cases. Studies in the field of forensic palynology show that the soil samples accumulated on the tires, pedals and fenders of the vehicles contain pollen and are one of the biological evidence used in catching criminals. There are several preliminary studies showing that the pollen evidence obtained from vehicles is not limited to these and that the pollen accumulated in the vehicle air filter may also have significant contributions to the resolution of criminal incidents. In this study, it is aimed to examine the potential of using pollen analyzed from the air filters of motor vehicles in solving events such as theft and kidnapping. In this study, filters of buses travelling on routes determined in Bursa province Kestel, Görükle, Osmangazi and Mudanya regions in March, April, May and June 2019 were palynologically examined. The obtained pollen data were compared with the volumetric pollen trap data found in Kestel, Görükle and Osmangazi regions. A total of 43 taxa and 241 227 pollen/m3 were determined in the analyzes made from the volumetric pollen traps in these regions for four months, and 44 taxa and 5 515 pollen/m3 were determined from the vehicle filters as a result of the analysis. As a result of this study, it was determined that the taxa in the atmospheric data and the filter data were similar to each other. Due to the population density and the barrier effect of the buildings, the pollen amounts in the filter and atmosphere in the majority of the stations are not similar to each other. Platanus sp. pollen was seen in very small amounts in air filters. This study is the first study in the literature to compare vehicle air filter pollen with atmospheric data. At the end of the study, it was concluded that both of the data obtained can contribute to the resolution of forensic events separately.