Many scenarios in the real world are affected by thermal degradation. One of the things affected is fingerprints. When anyone touches something, there is residue left from the fingers. If fingers are sweaty, or contain more oils, the residue contains many chemicals. De Paoli and her collogues conducted a study testing thermal degradation on certain components found in fingerprints. For heat exposure, the amino acid and urea samples started degradation at 100 °C (373 K; 212 °F) and for lactic acid, the decomposition process started around 50 °C (323 K; 122 °F). These components are necessary for further testing, so in the forensics discipline, decomposition of fingerprints is significant.