I see in a lot of Jane/John Doe cases where isotope testing tells the detectives where the person is from or grew up. How does this work? Do you have to live somewhere for a minimum amount of time to have the isotopes appear? If you move from one coast to the other do your early age isotopes disappear? Are there geographical areas with overlapping isotope data that muddies the return? Thanks in advance.
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Stables isotopes like O18, C13 H2 accumulate in keratin cells (hair, nails). Since the isotopes are stable and keratin is also inert after they form you can analyze the ratio of these isotopes and determine where someone is from because the distribution of these isotopes vary geographically.
Yes you have to live for sometime in the area for the isotope to accumulate. I don’t know if there are overlaps in data but it’s not impossible.
but I’ve heard that it’s used in analysis of migration of animals. I didn’t know it was also used in forensics because humans don’t consume the food that only comes from the region they live in which would make isotope analysis a lot harder.
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