NCJ Number
208572
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 50 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2005 Pages: 96-103
Date Published
January 2005
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This paper reports on the development of a new method for the positive identification of elemental sulfur in explosives and explosive residues, using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS).
Abstract
Following a carbon disulfide wash of explosives or explosive residues, a sample of the extracted material was injected onto a GC column and then analyzed by means of mass-selective detection. A positive identification of elemental sulfur was based on both retention time and fragmentation pattern. This GC-MS method detected and positively identified elemental sulfur from both burned and unburned explosive mixtures. With a detection limit of 2.5 ng of elemental sulfur on the column, the GC-MS method was 400 times more sensitive than the presumptive chemical color test that is the current method used for detecting small amounts of sulfur. The only disadvantage in using GC-MS to identify sulfur from explosives and explosive residues is the analysis time (10 minutes), which is approximately two to three times longer than for the chemical color test when the chemical reagents necessary for the color test are already prepared. The analysis times are comparable when fresh chemical reagents for the color test must be prepared. The GC-MS procedure is recommended for cases in which there is insufficient material to perform XRD or EDX analysis. 5 figures and 9 references