Identification of Gasoline Soot in Suspect Arson Cases by Using Headspace Solid Phase Microextraction–GC/MS

Abstract

A method for the identification of gasoline soot in suspect arson cases by using headspace solid phase microextraction (SPME) GC/MS is discussed. A 100 µm polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) coated fiber and a 75 µm carboxen/polydimethylsiloxane (CAR/PDMS) coated fiber were used in this study. HS‐SPME was carried out for extracting gasoline soot samples and subsequently was analyzed by using GC/MS. It is found that the presence of the components in gasoline soot was 19 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). These PAH compounds have been proven to be useful for the identification of gasoline soot obtained from a suspect fire. The proposed method was tested by analyzing the residues from a real suspect arson fire. The results demonstrate the suitability of PAHs compounds for the identification of gasoline soot in a suspected arson case.

Keywords:

• Forensic science
• Headspace solid phase microextraction
• Gasoline
• Soot
• Arson
• Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

Acknowledgment

The authors would like to express their appreciation to Leu‐Chyuan Hsieh, Director of the Taoyuan County Fire Department for the assistance in samples preparation for this article.