Staining of traces in blood

Amido Black
Amido Black is a dye that stains the protein component of blood blue-black. Amido Black staining solution can be methanol- or water-based. Amido Black in methanol has a greater staining power, but due to the toxicity of the methanol, it is also more dangerous. For use on a crime scene (for example, shoeprints in blood) the water-based staining solution is advised.

Cat. No. B-89500
Amido Black set, water-based. The set consists of two 500 ml spray bottles, one with Amido Black staining solution (B-89600) and the other with a blood fixative (2% 5-sulphosalicylic acid in water, B-89700).

Cat. No. B-89501
Amido Black set, methanol-based. Apart from fixative (B-89700) and staining solution (500 ml in spray bottle, B-89601), the set also contains two rinsing solutions for removing background staining: 500 ml methanol/acetic acid and 500 ml 5% aqueous acetic acid.

Cat. No. B-89400
Amido Black powder, 25 gram in a brown glass bottle.
 

Coomassie Blue
Coomassie Blue, a reagent like Amido Black that stains proteins, is methanol-based. Traces in blood are stained blue to purple.

Cat. No. B-88700
Coomassie Blue, 500 ml staining solution in a spray bottle

Crowle's Stain
"Crowle's Stain", also a protein stain, colors traces in blood red. It contains a toxic substance (trichloroacetic acid) but is water-based.

Cat. No. B-88500
Crowle's Stain, 500 ml in a spray bottle

Hungarian Red
Hungarian Red is a recently developed, water-based staining solution for traces in blood. It has a number of advantages compared to other staining solutions. It is safe (water-based), stains well, and can be lifted with a white gelatin lifter. A special characteristic of Hungarian Red is that the lifted traces fluoresce under green light, making it possible to visualize weak traces, even when they are present on a dark surface (directions for use).

Cat. No. B-88000
Hungarian Red set, 100 ml fixative (2% 5-sulphosalicylic acid in water) and 100 ml staining solution, both in 100 ml polyethylene bottles

Cat. No. B-88001
Hungarian Red staining solution, 100 ml in a polyethylene bottle

Cat. No. B-88100
Hungarian Red set, 500 ml staining solution and 500 ml fixative, both in 500 ml spray bottles

Cat. No. B-88101
Hungarian Red staining solution, 500 ml staining solution, in spray bottle

Cat. No. B-89700
Fixative for traces in blood (2% 5-sulphosalicylic acid in water). In spray bottle, 500 ml

Cat. No. B-89701
Fixative for traces in blood (2% 5-sulphosalicylic acid in water). In polyethylene bottle, 100 ml
 

Acid Yellow 7
Acid Yellow 7 is a fluorescent dye for blood staining (chemical structure in pop-up window). It fluoresces under blue and blue-green light.

The fluorescence is not really strong. However, when lifted with a white gelatin lifter (leave it on only for a short time, something like a minute; more info) the fluorescence is phenomenal (even visible with long-wave UV-light.)

Cat. No. B-88400
Acid Yellow 7, 500 ml staining solution (water/ethanol/acetic acid based), in spray bottle

Cat. No. B-89825
Acid Yellow 7, 25 gram in a brown glass bottle.

Leuco Crystal Violet
LCV (Leuco Crystal Violet) is a coloring reagent for blood that is based on the blood-catalyzed reaction of hydrogen peroxide with LCV, whereby the colorless LCV is oxidized to the purple crystal violet (the same dye as used in Gentian Violet). Because this oxidation will also occur slowly under the influence of light and oxygen, the contrast of the visualized traces and the background is not permanent. After a period of time the background will also be colored purple.

To maximize the shelf-life, the hydrogen peroxide is separately packaged in an opaque, brown plastic bottle. Before use, the hydrogen peroxide is added to the other solution (in a mixing ratio of 1:4). Both solutions are water-based. The LCV solution already contains fixative, so there is no need to fix blood before staining. In contrast to other staining solutions, LCV is very suitable for porous surfaces.

Further information (text of handout presentation Bill Bodziak - SPTM Meeting, Helsinki, 1995).

Cat. No. B-88600
Leuco Crystal Violet set, consisting of a 500 ml amber glass bottle containing Leuco Crystal Violet in a fixative (400 ml) and a brown plastic bottle with 100 ml hydrogen peroxide solution.