Forensic analysis of fire debris collected in alleged arson or reckless burning offenses is usually conducted by gas chromatography combined with mass spectrometry (GC-MS) or tandem MS (GC-MS/MS). In this presentation, we report an analytical method using a less costly and complex GC-FID instrument that can detect fire accelerant residues with high sensitivity, low noise, and a wide dynamic range. Wood material burned with readily available flammable solvents (e.g., gasoline, 2-propanol, diesel fuel) retained accelerant traces that could be extracted by organic solvents, separated, and identified by their GC-FID elution times, even in the case of complex chemical mixtures. Additional increases in sensitivity by the use of a headspace analysis technique and in specificity by matching with a database of Kovats retention indices will be discussed.

Gas chromatography-flame ionization detection (GC-FID) method for the identification of ignitable liquids in the analysis of arson samples

245th National Meeting (2013)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.