NCJ Number
223895
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 53 Issue: 4 Dated: July 2008 Pages: 989-992
Date Published
July 2008
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This study classified 13 ballpoint inks according to their solvents, polymers, and additives, and the variation of these compounds caused by aging was monitored for naturally and artificially aged samples.
Abstract
As reported by several authors in previous research, the loss of phenoxyethanol (PE) in fresh pen strokes evaporates at a moderate temperature; whereas, the amount of PE included in the polymer matrix in older pen strokes needs a higher extraction temperature. The current study showed that the decrease of PE in slowly aging inks of artificially aged samples corresponds well to that of natural aging and allows conclusions on the original age of the questioned writing. It is possible to differentiate between inks that lose most of the solvent very quickly (within 1 month) and inks that lose the largest amount of the solvent within 3 months or more. These results were verified by using two gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy (GS/MS) systems with different thermal desorption systems. The sample preparation and the conditions of the analyses were the same, and the results obtained from the two systems, i.e., the amounts of PE detected at three temperatures in relation to the whole amount of PE, showed a good correspondence. 5 figures and 6 references