Fire debris analysts are often asked how much ignitable liquid is present in samples collected from a fire scene. Investigators, lawyers, and juries may want to know the amount of ignitable liquid in order to determine its significance to the case. However, fire debris analysts are currently only able to testify on the presence or absence of an ignitable liquid in evidence. This research explored the possibility of quantifying ignitable liquids in fire debris samples. Liquid standards of neat gasoline in various concentrations were analyzed on a gas chromatographmass spectrometer (GC-MS) and compared to the same concentrations of gasoline spiked onto different substrates and extracted using the passive headspace concentration method. Peak areas for an internal standard and 14 different target compounds covering a range of light to heavy components were collected using the GC-MS software, and ratios of the peak area responses were compared. The results indicated that accurately quantifying an ignitable liquid is impossible due to factors such as displacement and saturation of the charcoal strip.
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