Analysis of volatiles in fire debris by combination of activated charcoal strips (ACS) and automated thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (ATD/GC-MS).

Fabritius, Marie Claire Michèle; Broillet, Alain; König, Stefan; Weinmann, Wolfgang (2018). Analysis of volatiles in fire debris by combination of activated charcoal strips (ACS) and automated thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (ATD/GC-MS). Forensic science international, 289, pp. 232-237. Elsevier Scientific Publ. Ireland 10.1016/j.forsciint.2018.05.048

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Adsorption of volatiles in gaseous phase to activated charcoal strip (ACS) is one possibility for the extraction and concentration of ignitable liquid residues (ILRs) from fire debris in arson investigations. Besides liquid extraction using carbon dioxide or hexane, automated thermo-desorption can be used to transfer adsorbed residues to direct analysis by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). We present a fire debris analysis work-flow with headspace adsorption of volatiles onto ACS and subsequent automated thermo-desorption (ATD) GC-MS analysis. Only a small portion of the ACS is inserted in the ATD tube for thermal desorption coupled to GC-MS, allowing for subsequent confirmation analysis with another portion of the same ACS. This approach is a promising alternative to the routinely used ACS method with solvent extraction of retained volatiles, and the application to fire debris analysis is demonstrated.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

04 Faculty of Medicine > Service Sector > Institute of Legal Medicine
04 Faculty of Medicine > Service Sector > Institute of Legal Medicine > Forensic Chemistry and Toxicology
04 Faculty of Medicine > Service Sector > Institute of Legal Medicine > Management

UniBE Contributor:

Fabritius, Marie Claire Michèle, Broillet, Alain, König, Stefan (A), Weinmann, Wolfgang

Subjects:

600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health

ISSN:

0379-0738

Publisher:

Elsevier Scientific Publ. Ireland

Language:

English

Submitter:

Antoinette Angehrn

Date Deposited:

21 Jun 2018 08:07

Last Modified:

29 Mar 2023 23:36

Publisher DOI:

10.1016/j.forsciint.2018.05.048

PubMed ID:

29908516

Uncontrolled Keywords:

Activated charcoal strip (ACS) Automated thermal desorption (ATD) Fire debris Ignitable liquid

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.117314

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/117314

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