Activated Charcoal Pellets as an Innovative Method for Forensic Analysis of Ignitable Liquid Residues from Fire Debris by GC-MS

In Forensic Chemistry, evidence collected at a crime scene is of paramount importance for any case to be properly elucidated. Ignitable liquid residues are important chemical evidence in investigations into cases of fire because these substances can be correlated to arson. Here, we describe an innovative technique for sampling and extracting gasoline and diesel from fire debris by using activated charcoal pellets (ACP). ACP can be an alternative to activated charcoal strips and can be easily produced on the laboratory scale. The ACP approach allowed all the target compounds selected for gasoline and diesel fuels to be extracted. Among the six tested extraction conditions, optimal extraction occurred at 100 °C, after 240 min. These preliminary results showed the potential of ACP for detecting gasoline and diesel in fire debris. However, the ACP approach still requires analytical validation, so that its applicability in an authentic forensic setting can be explored.

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Developing a Method for the Collection and Analysis of Burnt Remains for the Detection and Identification of Ignitable Liquid Residues Using Body Bags, Dynamic Headspace Sampling, and TD-GC×GC-TOFMS

Separations ◽

10.3390/separations5030046 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 5 (3) ◽

pp. 46 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Katie Nizio ◽

Shari Forbes

Keyword(s):

Forensic Analysis ◽

Headspace Sampling ◽

Dynamic Headspace ◽

Flight Mass Spectrometry ◽

Detection And Identification ◽

Dynamic Headspace Sampling ◽

Fire Debris ◽

Primary Focus ◽

Ignitable Liquid ◽

And Storage

In cases of suspected arson, a body may be intentionally burnt to cause loss of life, dispose of remains, or conceal identification. A primary focus of a fire investigation, particularly involving human remains, is to establish the cause of the fire; this often includes the forensic analysis of fire debris for the detection of ignitable liquid residues (ILRs). Commercial containers for the collection of fire debris evidence include metal cans, glass jars, and polymer/nylon bags of limited size. This presents a complication in cases where the fire debris consists of an intact, or partially intact, human cadaver. This study proposed the use of a body bag as an alternative sampling container. A method was developed and tested for the collection and analysis of ILRs from burnt porcine remains contained within a body bag using dynamic headspace sampling (using an Easy-VOC™ hand-held manually operated grab-sampler and stainless steel sorbent tubes containing Tenax TA) followed by thermal desorption comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography–time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TD-GC×GC-TOFMS). The results demonstrated that a body bag containing remains burnt with gasoline tested positive for the presence of gasoline, while blank body bag controls and a body bag containing remains burnt without gasoline tested negative. The proposed method permits the collection of headspace samples from burnt remains before the remains are removed from the crime scene, limiting the potential for contamination and the loss of volatiles during transit and storage.

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