Glass particles in footwear of members of the public in south-eastern Australia - a survey

A total of 776 pairs of shoes collected from random members of the public in south-eastern Australia were examined for the presence of glass fragments. From the samples collected a total of 110 fragments were recovered from 57 pairs of shoes (7.3% of the pairs examined). This study shows that the prevalence of glass fragments in footwear is dependent upon the area of the shoe from which the fragments were recovered. A much higher percentage of shoes were found to have fragments embedded in the sole (5.9%) than in the upper area of the shoe (1.9%). These shoes were also more likely to have multiple fragments from multiple sources of glass. Only a very small percentage of shoes contained fragments in both the upper and the sole (0.3%). These findings and their significance for the interpretation of glass evidence involving footwear are discussed in this study. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.