Human scent and human remains detection canines are used to locate living or deceased humans under many circumstances. Human scent canines locate individual humans on the basis of their unique scent profile, while human remains detection canines locate the general scent of decomposing human remains. Scent evidence is often collected by law enforcement agencies using a Scent Transfer Unit, a dynamic headspace concentration device. The goals of this research were to evaluate the STU-100 for the collection of human scent samples, and to apply this method to the collection of living and deceased human samples, and to the creation of canine training aids. The airflow rate and collection material used with the STU-100 were evaluated using a novel scent delivery method. Controlled Odor Mimic Permeation Systems were created containing representative standard compounds delivered at known rates, improving the reproducibility of optimization experiments. Flow rates and collection materials were compared. Higher air flow rates usually yielded significantly less total volatile compounds due to compound breakthrough through the collection material. Collection from polymer and cellulose-based materials demonstrated that the molecular backbone of the material is a factor in the trapping and releasing of compounds. The weave of the material also affects compound collection, as those materials with a tighter weave demonstrated enhanced collection efficiencies. Using the optimized method, volatiles were efficiently collected from living and deceased humans. Replicates of the living human samples showed good reproducibility; however, the odor profiles from individuals were not always distinguishable from one another. Analysis of the human remains samples revealed similarity in the type and ratio of compounds. Two types of prototype training aids were developed utilizing combinations of pure compounds as well as volatiles from actual human samples concentrated onto sorbents, which were subsequently used in field tests. The pseudo scent aids had moderate success in field tests, and the Odor pad aids had significant success. This research demonstrates that the STU-100 is a valuable tool for dog handlers and as a field instrument; however, modifications are warranted in order to improve its performance as a method for instrumental detection.

Caractériser l’odeur humaine revêt un intérêt particulier en sciences forensiques. Les chiens peuvent retrouver une personne grâce à son odeur, mais leur incapacité à témoigner fait que l’information qu’ils apportent a peu de force probante devant les tribunaux. Ainsi, développer une stratégie analytique complète, du prélèvement des échantillons à l’analyse et au traitement des données, permettra d’appuyer les identifications effectuées par les chiens policiers. Après un état de l’art des différentes études qui se sont déjà penchées sur le sujet, nous nous pencherons sur l’utilisation des chiens en Gendarmerie et sur quelques aspects de la biométrie pour savoir dans quelle mesure l’odeur peut être utilisée comme une caractéristique biométrique. Nous avons développé des méthodes d’échantillonnage de l’odeur innovantes, simples et fiables, que ce soit directement sur le sujet ou indirectement sur les lieux du crime. Une attention particulière est portée aux échantillons réels et à leur conservation. L’aptitude des techniques analytiques à séparer et identifier les différents constituants de l’odeur humaine a été évaluée. Ainsi, nous avons développé une méthode d’analyse en chromatographie gazeuse bidimensionnelle intégrale couplée à la spectrométrie de masse. Les performances de plusieurs jeux de colonnes ont été comparées en considérant neuf des critères les plus utilisés dans la littérature. Enfin, nous avons constitué un panel représentatif sur lequel nous avons pu mettre en place les approches statistiques de comparaison des échantillons à des fins d’identification. / Characterizing human odor is of particular interest in forensic science. Dogs can find a person using their odor-print, but cannot testify : the information they bring lacks probative value in the courts of justice. Thus, developing a whole analytical strategy, from sampling to analysis and data processing, may support the identification dogs provide. After reviewing the studies that have already worked on the subject, the use of dogs in the police force is developed and some aspects of biometrics are presented to know to if the odor can be used as a biometric trait. Innovative, simple and reliable methods were developed to sample odor, either directly on the subject or indirectly at the scene of the crime. Particular attention is paid to the real samples and their conservation. The ability of analytical techniques to separate and identify different constituents of human odor was assessed. Thus, we have developed an analytical method in two-dimensional gas chromatography integral coupled with mass spectrometry. The performance of several sets of columns was compared by considering nine of the criteria most used in the literature. Finally, we established a representative panel on which we were able to apply statistical approaches for the comparison of samples.