Potential of volatile organic compounds as markers of entrapped humans for use in urban search-and-rescue operations

摘要

Volatile organic compounds emitted by a human body form a chemical signaturecapable of providing invaluable information on the physiological status of anindividual and, thereby, could serve as signs-of-life for detecting victimsafter natural or man-made disasters. In this review a database of potentialbiomarkers of human presence was created on the basis of existing literaturereports on volatiles in human breath, skin emanation, blood, and urine.Approximate fluxes of these species from the human body were estimated and usedto predict their concentrations in the vicinity of victims. The proposedmarkers were classified into groups of different potential for victimdetection. The major classification discriminants were the capability ofdetection by portable, real-time analytical instruments and background levelsin urban environment. The data summarized in this review are intended to assiststudies on the detection of humans via chemical analysis and accelerateinvestigations in this area of knowledge.