Forensic analysis of inorganic anions from post-blast pyrotechnic residues

Increase bombing activities in recent years have raised much awareness amongst forensic scientists of the importance of post-blast investigation. Analysis of post blast bomb residues is useful in identification of explosives and establishing link to its origin. The use of pyrotechnic in homemade exp...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ahmad, Umi Kalsom, Choon, Yoong Liew, Mohamed Huri, Mohamad Afiq, Shaikh Abdullah, Shaikh Abdul Adzis
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Penerbit UTM 2013
Subjects:
Online Access:http://eprints.utm.my/id/eprint/50006/1/UmiKalthomAhmad2013_Forensicanalysisofinorganic.pdf
http://eprints.utm.my/id/eprint/50006/
https://dx.doi.org/10.11113/jt.v62.1892
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Increase bombing activities in recent years have raised much awareness amongst forensic scientists of the importance of post-blast investigation. Analysis of post blast bomb residues is useful in identification of explosives and establishing link to its origin. The use of pyrotechnic in homemade explosives has emerged as a new threat to society. In this study, pre and post-blast inorganic anions from pyrotechnic residues were analyzed using ion chromatography with conductivity detection. Inorganic anions were separated using Metrosep A SUPP 5 anion column with NaHCO3 - Na2CO3 eluent. Eight anions (fluoride, chloride, nitrite, chlorate, nitrate, phosphate, sulfate and thiocyanate) were successfully separated within 40 min. Good linearity of calibration graph and LOD ranged from 4.8 to 21.0 ppb were achieved. Chemical anionic constituents of the fireworks were found to differ from each other. However, they were found to be common in nitrate and chlorate as oxidizer. Ratio of oxidizer was also found to be much higher than other anions. Post-blast samples showed drastic reduction in oxidizer concentration