Abstract
In forensic investigations, analyzing ignitable liquid residues (ILRs) obtained from crime scenes is critical for establishing whether a fire was deliberately set and potentially identifying a perpetrator. Traditional methods for extracting ILRs from fire debris, such as solvent, static headspace, and solid phase microextraction (SPME) extractions, often have significant drawbacks. These methods can destroy the sample, involve lengthy manual procedures, require harmful solvents, and have long incubation times. An extraction technique such as dynamic headspace (DHS) offers several advantages over traditional extraction methods, including non-destructive sample handling, improved sensitivity, automated extraction, and the elimination of hazardous solvents. This study demonstrates an automated DHS approach to extract three commonly used ignitable liquids from mock arson evidence.
Keywords
Arson, Ignitable Liquid Residue, Fire Debris, Forensic, Dynamic Headspace, Thermal Desorption, Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry