Trace analysis by gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC/MS) is a commonly used method of instrumentation for determining the presence of ignitable liquid residues (ILR). The analyses of clothing and footwear for the presence of ILR are common in arson investigations when suspects are accused of deliberately applying ILR to property for the purpose of initiating and/or accelerating a fire. Previous experiments have indicated that some ILR may persist on footwear over an extended period of time. This study aims to investigate the persistence of detectable gasoline deposited on shoes of different types. Following various methods of deposition, shoes were sampled using passive headspace extraction onto activated carbon strips and analyzed by GC/MS.

Persistance of gasoline deposited on typical footwear

255th National Meeting (2018)

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