Impact of several wearers on the persistence of DNA on clothes—a study with experimental scenarios

The detection of DNA of a certain person on the inside of a piece of clothing involved in a crime scene is usually seen as confirmation that this person is the owner or bearer and therefore participated in this crime. However, besides the possibilities of secondary or even tertiary transfer of DNA, the accused often argues that he lent the garment to another person who by chance did not leave any DNA while committing the crime. Then, forensic genetic scientists have to answer the question how long DNA persists on an item used in daily routine and how long a piece of clothing must be worn to definitively leave detectable DNA behind. In an attempt to answer these questions, several scenarios with two or three individuals wearing the same sweatband for different time periods were set up. DNA left on the sweatbands was isolated, quantified, and then analyzed using the Powerplex® ESX17fast kit. The majority of samples displayed all alleles of both/all three wearers on the outside (67%) as well as on the inside (80%) of the sweatbands. In contrast, a single profile of the first wearer could only be found once among all 204 samples, a single profile of the second wearer in 7% of samples. Wearing the sweatband for only 10 min was enough to result in a complete profile of the second wearer in 79% of samples. So, it is highly unlikely to wear/use a piece of clothing for even a short period of time without leaving own DNA behind.