1Assistant Professor, Department of Forensic Science, K.R. Mangalam University, Sohna Road, Haryana, India
2Associate Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine, National Capital Region Institute of Medical Sciences, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India
3Associate Professor, Amity Institute of Forensic Sciences, Amity University, Noida, UP, India
*Corresponding author: Dr. Amarnath Mishra, Associate Professor, Amity Institute of Forensic Sciences, Amity University, Noida, UP, India, E-mail: amishra5@amity.edu Contact: +919818978527
Online published on 27 May, 2025.
Arson investigations provide a great difficulty for forensic scientists since the type and cause of the fire depends on the identification of ignitable liquid remains. Usually applying analytical methods, these residues are discovered; their consistent burning characteristics lead to the use of fire accelerators. The aim of this work is to investigate the efficiency of several fire accelerants (camphor, diesel, ethanol, and gasoline) applied on cotton as a matrix for residue detection. Built using cotton, simulated micro arson models, fire accelerant residues were extracted from the charred remains once the fire was out. Two solvues, hexane and p-xylene, and ultrasonic waves were used in extraction. Gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS) revealed the main constituents in both standard and charred fire accelerators. The results showed that, when removing fire accelerant residues from charred matrices, p-xylene and hexane combined was more effective than hexane by itself. These results could help researchers choose appropriate solvents for the extraction of fire accelerant residue, so supporting forensic arson investigations.
Forensic Chemistry, Arson, Fire Accelerants, Matrix, GC-MS, Functional Groups
