DETERMINATION OF LIQUID ACCELERANTS IN ARSON SUSPECTED FIRE DEBRIS USING HEADSPACE SOLID-PHASE MICROEXTRACTION

A new method for the detection of selected flammable liquid accelerant s from arson-suspected fire debris has been developed using headspace solid-phase microextraction (SPME). Two different techniques were used to validate the headspace SPME method. Preliminary headspace SPME was carried out by extracting small amounts of gasoline or barbecue light er fluid spiked onto pre-burnt carpet or wood with subsequent analysis using GC-FID. Alternatively, small amounts of accelerant were burnt w ith wood or carpet and headspace SPME with GC-ion-trap mass spectromet ry was performed on the residue. The FID and ion current chromatograms were used to determine a visual correlation so that the presence of t he components that are commonly found in petroleum-based accelerants c ould be confirmed. Headspace SPME was capable of detecting trace amoun ts of gasoline from a sample obtained from a real arson-suspected fire , while conventional extraction methods, such as static headspace, lac ked adequate sensitivity for the analysis so that accelerants were not detected.