Interpretation of Fire Debrys

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Interpretation of Fire Debris Analysis

E Stauffer, Commissariat d’Identification Judiciaire, Police Cantonale Fribourg, Fribourg, SwitzerlandN NicDae id, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK

ã 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Glossary Aliphatic An organic compound which is not aromatic;

organic compounds that are alkanes, alkenes, and alkynes

and their derivatives.

Alkane A saturated hydrocarbon compound having the

general formula Cn

H2nþ2.

Aromatics A class of unsaturated organic compounds that

have a benzene ring or that have chemical properties similar

to benzene as part of their structure.

Combustion products The set of products that are released

during the combustion reaction of materials. These products

are the result of both complete and incomplete combustion

but not of the pyrolysis process.

Crude oil Naturally occurring oil consisting primarily of

hydrocarbons with some other elements such as sulfur,oxygen, and nitrogen. Source material of nearly all

petroleum products.

Fire debris A generic term commonly used to describe

material collected at a fire scene and submitted to the

laboratory for ignitable liquid residue analysis.

Gasoline A mixture of several hundreds of volatile

hydrocarbons ranging from C4 to C12 used in an internal

combustion engine.

Ignitable liquid A liquid fuel that is either flammable or

combustible.

Ignitable liquid residues The remaining portion of an

ignitable liquid on a substrate after undergoing physical

and/or chemical changes.

Interfering products The set of chemicals found in a sample

that interferes with the proper identification of ignitable

liquid residues.

Isoparaffinic products An ASTM class of

petroleum distillate almost exclusively composed of

branched alkanes.

Microbial degradation The decomposition of petroleum

products by bacterial action that can diminish some

components relative to others resulting in an altered

chromatographic pattern that may not allow for a definitivecharacterization.

Petroleum distillates An ASTM class of products obtained

primarily from the fractionation of crude oil.

Pyrolysis products The set of products generated by the

process of pyrolysis only.

Substrate The sample material from

which a substance of interest (analyte) is removed

for analysis.

AbbreviationsGC Gas chromatography or gas chromatograph

IL Ignitable liquid

ILR Ignitable liquid residues

MS Mass spectrometry or mass spectrometer

Introduction

Once the chromatogram has been obtained, it is time to con-

duct the most difficult part of fire debris analysis: the inter-

pretation of the results. It is necessary to distinguish the

interpretation of chromatograms obtained from neat liquids

from the ones obtained from fire debris samples. In the first

case, the neat liquid is simply diluted and injected. As such,

there are almost no influences to take into account in the

interpretation. In the second case, the debris is first subjected

to an extraction (passive headspace, solvent, etc.) and then

analyzed. In addition, interfering products are coextracted

with ignitable liquid residues (ILRs). Thus, the interpretation

of the chromatogram is much more complicated.

The goal of the interpretation of the results is to determine

whether or not ILRs are present in the fire debris sample. In

order to achieve this, one will have to study the chromatogram

for patterns exhibited by known ignitable liquids (ILs).

Because thousands of different ILs with different compo-

nents exist, a system of organizing them into groups and

finding common patterns exhibited within each group had to

be devised. This led to a classification system, now described in

the ASTM standard test method for ILR in extracts from fire

debris samples by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry

(GC–MS) E1618. As a result, these patterns are well known

and the process of interpretation is clearly described.

Classification

While one may think that hundreds of thousands of differ-

ent ILs potentially used at fire scenes may exhibit as many

different patterns, this is not the case. First of all, most ILs

are petroleum based, that is, they are derived from crude

oil. As such, most of them are composed exclusively of

aliphatic and/or aromatic compounds. Second, because

the processes of transforming crude oil into refined prod-

ucts are not very diverse, patterns exhibited by petroleum-

based ILs can be placed into six different classes of ILs, each

with a characteristic set of patterns . Finally, when dealing

with nonpetroleum-based ILs, even though all possibilities

Encyclopedia of Forensic Sciences, Second Edition http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-382165-2.00102-1 183

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are open, these liquids usually consist of only a few differ-

ent components. Thus, the resulting chromatograms are not

as complicated as those from petroleum-based ILs, which

can exhibit several hundreds of components.

ASTM standard E1618 proposes a classification system

based on eight different classes, as shown in Table 1.

The examples for each class are not exhaustive; they are just

the most commonly encountered products found in each

Table 1 ASTM E 1618–10 ignitable liquid classification scheme

Class Light (C 4 –C9 ) Medium (C 8 –C13 ) Heavy (C 8 –C 20þ )

Gasoline Fresh gasoline is typically in the range of C4–C12

Petroleum distillates (including

dearomatized)

Petroleum ether

Some cigarette lighter fluids

Some camping fuels

Some charcoal starters

Some paint thinners

Some dry cleaning solvents

Kerosene

Diesel fuel

Some jet fuels

Some charcoal starters

Isoparaff inic products Av iation gasSome specialty solvents

Some charcoal startersSome paint thinners

Some copier toners

Some commercial specialtysolvents

Naphthenic paraffinic products Cyclohexane-based solvents/products Some charcoal starters

Some insecticide vehicles

Some lamp oils


Some lamp oils

Industrial solvents

Aromatic products Some paint and varnish removers

Some automotive parts cleaners

Xylene-based products

Toluene-based products

Some automotive part cleaners

Specialty cleaning solvents


Fuel additives


Industrial cleaning solvents

Normal alkane products Solvents: pentane, hexane, heptane Some candle oils

Some copier toners

Some candle oils

Carbonless forms

Some copier toners

Oxygenated solvents Alcohols

KetonesSome lacquer thinners

Fuel additives

Surface preparation solvents

Some lacquer thinners

Some industrial solventsMetal cleaners/gloss removers

Others/miscellaneous Single-component products

Some blended products

Some enamel reducers

Turpentine products


Some specialty products


Some specialty products

Carbon #

6

2

Benzene

Toluene

C2-alkylbenzenes

C3-alkylbenzenes

C4-alkylbenzenes

0

200000

400000

600000

800000

1000000

A b u n d a n c e

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

11 12 13 14 15

16 17 18 19 20 21 2 2 23 24 25

Time

Figure 1 Chromatogram of a neat gasoline (unweathered). Time in minutes. Reproduced from Stauffer E, Dolan JA, and Newman R (2008) Fire

Debris Analysis , p. 323. Burlington, MA: Academic Press. ã Elsevier.

184 Chemistry/Trace/Fire Investigation | Interpretation of Fire Debris Analysis



particular class. In his/her findings, the fire debris analyst does

not report a finished product itself, but rather the ASTM class.

Then, products found in that class can be cited as examples, to

guide the fire investigator.

Because the difference between the classes relies on the chem-

ical composition of the IL, theASTM system introduces a second

dimension of classification to refine the different categories: the

boiling point range. By using the boiling point range, one can

Carbon #

A b u n d a n c e

A b u n d a n

c e

A b u n d a n c e

Carbon #

Light petroleum distillate

Medium petroleum distillate

Heavy petroleum distillate

Carbon #

6

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

11 12 13 14 15

16 17 18 19 20 21 2 2 23 24 25

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

Time

Figure 2 Chromatograms of light, medium, and heavy petroleum distillates. Time in minutes. Reproduced from Stauffer E, Dolan JA, and Newman R

(2008) Fire Debris Analysis, p. 328. Burlington, MA: Academic Press. ã Elsevier.

Chemistry/Trace/Fire Investigation | Interpretation of Fire Debris Analysis 185



refine the different classes and create more pertinent categories.

In practice, the light subclass ranges approximately from 0 to

150 C, the medium from 120 to 240 C, and the heavy

from 120 C to more than 350 C. The only exception to

that subclassification is gasoline, whose boiling point range

does not vary greatly. This classification system works per-

fectly well with the separation and analysis obtained by

GC–MS as this instrument separates the compounds based

on their boiling points and the MS provides identification of

their chemical nature.

A b u n d a n c e

Carbon #

Carbon #

Carbon #

6

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

11 12 13 14 15

16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

Time

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

A b u n d a n c e

A

b u n d a n c e

Light isoparaffinic product

Medium isoparaffinic product

Heavy isoparaffinic product

Figure 3 Chromatograms of light, medium, and heavy isoparaffinic products. Time in minutes. Reproduced from Stauffer E, Dolan JA, and

Newman R (2008) Fire Debris Analysis, p. 332. Burlington, MA: Academic Press. ã Elsevier.




Interpretation of Neat Liquids

With petroleum-based products, the basic principle of

interpretation is to evaluate the chromatogram for the pres-

ence, distribution, boiling point range, and relative abun-

dance of all saturated aliphatics and all aromatics. With

nonpetroleum-based products, the analyst looks at all com-

pounds present in the chromatogram and evaluates whether

or not they could originate from an IL.

While an advanced knowledge of crude oil-refining processes

is necessary to fully understand the reasons behind the chemical

compositions of the different ASTM classes, this goes beyond the

Carbon #

Carbon #

Light naphthenic paraffinic product

Medium naphthenic paraffinic product

Heavy naphthenic paraffinic product

6

A b u n d a n c e

A b u n d a

n c e

A b u n d a n c e

7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

Carbon #

6

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Time

7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

Figure 4 Chromatograms of light, medium, and heavy naphthenic paraffinic products. Time in minutes. Reproduced from Stauffer E, Dolan JA,

and Newman R (2008) Fire Debris Analysis, p. 335. Burlington, MA: Academic Press. ã Elsevier.




scope of thischapter.Nevertheless, it is possible to provide a rapid

overview of the different classes and their compositions.

Gasoline is mostly composed of aromatic compounds rang-

ing from C4 (4-carbon’long chain) to C12 (12-carbon’long

chain). It also contains some alkanes; however, they are nor-

mally not abundant. Figure 1 shows an example of a chro-

matogram of gasoline.

Petroleum distillates are the closest products to crude oil,

as they have undergone a minimum of refinement. They

contain both aliphatics and aromatics in a normal (Gaussian)

distribution with spiking n-alkanes. Some petroleum distil-

lates said to be dearomatized have no aromatic content.

Figure 2 shows examples of light, medium, and heavy petro-

leum distillates.

Carbon #

Carbon #

Carbon #

Heavy aromatic product

Medium aromatic product

Light aromatic product

A b u n d a n c e

A b u n d a n

c e

A b u n d a n c e

6

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Time

7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

Figure 5 Chromatograms of light, medium, and heavy aromatic products. Time in minutes. Reproduced from Stauffer E, Dolan JA, andNewman R (2008) Fire Debris Analysis, p. 339. Burlington, MA: Academic Press. ã Elsevier.




Isoparaffinic products are exclusively constituted of isoalk-

anes as shown in Figure 3. They have no aromatics, n-alkanes,

or cycloalkanes.

Naphthenic paraffinic products are comprised of cycloalk-

anes and isoalkanes (see Figure 4). Basically, a naphthenic

paraffinic product is a petroleum distillate in which the

n-alkanes and the aromatic content have been removed.

Aromatic products are composed exclusively of aromatic

compounds. As a matter of fact, such a product is constituted

of the aromatic fraction that was isolated from crude oil. In

general, they exhibit a narrow boiling point range, as shown

in Figure 5.

n-Alkane products represent the simplest pattern: a narrow

fraction of n-alkanes (usually not spanning more than four or

five carbons). Figure 6 shows an example of light, medium,

and heavy n-alkane products.

Oxygenated solvents include all ILs containing at least one

oxygenated compound in large excess of the rest of the com-

ponents (at least one order of magnitude in the chromato-

gram). Oxygenated solvents may also contain other ILs such

Carbon #

Carbon #

Carbon #

6

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Time

7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

Medium to heavy normal-alkane product

ExxonMobil Norpar 12

Heavy normal-alkane product


Heavy normal-alkane product


17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

A b u n d a

n c e

A b u

n d a n c e

A b u n d a n c e

Figure 6 Chromatograms of light, medium, and heavy n-alkanes. Time in minutes. Reproduced from Stauffer E, Dolan JA, and Newman R (2008)

Fire Debris Analysis, p. 337. Burlington, MA: Academic Press. ã Elsevier.




as medium petroleum distillates. Figure 7 shows three exam-

ples of oxygenated solvents.

Miscellaneous products include ILs that do not fit in any of

the categories previously described. Figure 8 shows an example

of a turpentine, which is classified as miscellaneous.

In summary, Table 2 shows the different components

found in each ASTM class and subclass.

While the interpretation and classification of chromato-

grams may appear relatively complex at first, it is in fact quite

easy with neat liquids. Figure 9 provides a guide to the proper

interpretation of chromatograms. If the analyst follows this

guide, there should be no problem in correctly identifying

neat liquids. Unfortunately, it is a whole other story with ILR

from fire debris samples.

Carbon #

Carbon #

Carbon #

6

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Time

7 8

Toluene

Toluene

2-Propoxyethanol

2-Propyl acetate

n-Propyl acetate

n-Butoxy ethanol

2-Ethoxy

ethanol

1-Butanol

n-Butyl acetate

2-Ethoxyethyl acetate

n-Butyl butyrate

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

Light to medium oxygenated solvent

DuPont fast dry acrylic lacquer thinner

Light oxygenated solvent + light aromatic productUSA Brand lacquer thinner

Light oxygenated solvent + light aromatic productDyco solvent E-5

22 23 24 25

A b u n d a n c e

A b u n d a n

c e

A b u n d a n c e

Figure 7 Chromatograms of light, medium, and heavy oxygenated solvents. Time in minutes. Reproduced from Stauffer E, Dolan JA, andNewman R (2008) Fire Debris Analysis, p. 342. Burlington, MA: Academic Press. ã Elsevier.




Interpretation of Ignitable Liquid Residues

When an IL is poured onto a substrate, and then set on fire,

extinguished, collected, and finally extracted, one can easily

imagine that it no longer exhibits the same chromatographic

pattern as when it was neat. This is the reason why the

interpretation of ILR is much more complicated than that

of mere IL, in addition to the fact that the analyst does not

know at first whether or not ILR are present in the debris.

There are several parameters influencing the composition of

the ILR extract from a fire debris as shown in Figure 10.

First, the substrate itself may already contain some IL, or

at least some compounds that are found in IL. These are

called precursory products and they may be due to the raw

material constituting the substrate, to its manufacturing pro-

cess, to the setup in its final position/use, and to some

natural or accidental contaminations. For example, some

woods contain terpenes, compounds typically found in

Carbon #6

20

2000000

4000000

6000000

8000000

3 4 5

Camphene

1,4-Cineol d-Limonene

o-Cymene

a-Pinene

a-Terpinene

g-Terpinene

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Time

7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

A b u n d a n c e

Figure 8 Chromatogram of turpentine product, classified as miscellaneous. Time in minutes. Reproduced from Stauffer E, Dolan JA, and

Newman R (2008) Fire Debris Analysis, p. 344. Burlington, MA: Academic Press. ã Elsevier.

Table 2 The different components found in each ASTM class and subclass

Class Alkanes Cycloalkanes Aromatics (including indanes) Polynuclear aromatics

Gasoline Present, less abundant than

aromatics

Present, less

abundant than

aromatics

Abundant Present

Petroleum

distillates

Abundant, normal (Gaussian)

distribution

Present, less

abundant thanalkanes

Present, less abundant than

alkanes (absent indearomatized distillates)

Present (depending on boiling point range),

less abundant than alkanes (absent indearomatized distillates)

Isoparaffinic

products

Branched alkanes abundant,

n-alkanes absent or strongly

diminished

Absent Absent Absent

Naphthenic

paraffinic

products

Branched alkanes abundant,

n-alkanes absent or strongly

diminished

Abundant Absent Absent

Aromatic

products

Absent Absent Abundant Abundant (depending on the boiling point

range)

Normal

alkanes

products

Abundant Absent Absent Absent

Oxygenated

solvents

Composition may vary, presence of oxygenated organic compounds




thinners. Most outsoles are glued to the shoe and this glue

usually contains an aromatic compound, such as toluene. A

carpet is also often glued to the floor; however, this glue

usually contains a medium petroleum distillate. When one

sprays insecticides around a baseboard, these become con-

taminated with a naphthenic paraffinic or an aromatic prod-

uct. These are all examples of precursory products that may

be found on a substrate before it is even deliberately contam-

inated with an IL used as an accelerant.

Second, once an IL is poured onto a substrate, it will un-

dergo three effects, which will influence its composition:

weathering, diminution, and degradation. Weathering is the

effect of the evaporation of an IL. Because an IL is commonly made of many differentcompounds of different boiling points,

not all compounds will evaporate at the same rate. As such, the

chromatographic pattern of a neat IL (unweathered) is differ-

ent from that of its 50% evaporated version. As a matter of fact,

as the weathering increases, the chromatogram moves to the

right, meaning that the light compounds disappear and

the heavy compounds become more and more dominant.

Diminution represents the uniform loss of the different com-

pounds of an IL. In practice, it occurs simultaneously with

weathering, but it may also be due to poor evidence collection

or to fire suppression activities. Finally, degradation occurs

when the substrate, mostly soil, contains proteobacteria,

which are capable of degrading petroleum-based IL. These

bacteria, depending on their type, will selectively degrade ali-

phatics or aromatics. As a result, the composition of an IL may

drastically change, not based on its boiling point range, but

rather on its chemical characteristics.

Third, when a substrate burns, pyrolysis and combustion

products are created. Pyrolysis products consist of compounds

that are often the same as the ones found in petroleum prod-

ucts. As a result, they strongly interfere with the chemical

composition of an IL, making it impossible in some instances

to properly identify an ILR. Most commonly encounteredpyrolysis products are toluene, styrene, naphthalene, benzal-

dehyde, ethylbenzene, indene, phenylethyne, m,p-xylenes, 1-

and 2-methylnaphthalene, acetophenone, and the series of

alkane–alkene–alkadiene ranging from C10 to C16. Figure 11

shows an example of pyrolysis products created with burned

polyethylene.

Combustion products usually do not interfere as much as

pyrolysis products with ILR because they are oxidized products,

which are not often found as IL components. Because they are

very light compounds, they tend not to be trapped in substrates.

Figure 9 Petroleum-based ignitable liquid flow chart. Every question related to the presence of specific compounds implies that these compounds

must be present in the proper pattern (as compared to a pattern of these compounds from a reference liquid analyzed on the same system). * Or “Are

cycloalkanes distinctively present in the extracted ion chromatograms”? Reproduced from Stauffer E, Dolan JA, and Newman R (2008) Fire Debris

Analysis, p. 345. Burlington, MA: Academic Press. ã Elsevier.




Finally, fire suppression agents may also be used by the

intervening fire department. Some of these agents may also

contribute to the fire debris extract, such as some foams that

use D-limonene or some alcohol-based compounds.

Interfering products, then, are a set of products comprising

precursory, pyrolysis, combustion, and fire suppression prod-

ucts. When interpreting chromatograms of extracts from fire

debris samples, one must account for the presence of these

interfering products. In addition, one must not forget thedifferent effects occurring directly on the IL. This is why a

systematic approach was developed.

Systematic Approach

Because the interpretation of chromatograms for ILR identifi-

cation is quite complicated, it is important to follow a system-

atic approach, which is constituted of the six following steps:

1. Identify the sample and its substrate.

2. Estimate the typical contribution from that substrate.

3. Determine to which influences the substrate was subjected.

4. Estimate the effect of these influences.

5. Study the chromatogram from start to finish, including

peak identification.

6. Study extracted ions in the regions of interest, including

peak identification.

Even if the fire debris analyst did not work on the fire scene,

he/she must have some clear basic knowledge about the sam-

ple in question, particularly in regard to its composition, its

environment at the time of the fire, and the different steps it

underwent. Knowledge of the sample’s history is crucial, too.

Raw material

Manufacture

Set-up

Natural/accidentalcontamination

Deliberate

contamination

Fire

Fire suppression

Collection

Transportation

Analysis

Degradation

Fire

suppression

products

Diminution

Weathering

Ignitable liquid

Precursory

products

Pyrolysis

products

Combustion

products

Figure 10 The different steps (in the middle) to which the fire

debris sample is subjected from its creation to its analysis, along with

the influences (on the left) on the potential ignitable liquid present

in the debris and the different interfering products created

(on the right). Reproduced from Stauffer E, Dolan JA, and Newman R

(2008) Fire Debris Analysis, p. 443. Burlington, MA: Academic Press.

ã Elsevier.

Carbon #

6

2

C6

C7

C8C9

C10

C11C12

C13

C14

C16

C15

C17

C18

C20

03 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Time

7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

1000000

2000000

3000000

A b u n d a n c e

Figure 11 Chromatogram of polyethylene pyrolysis products. Time in minutes. Reproduced from Stauffer E, Dolan JA, and Newman R (2008)

Fire Debris Analysis, p. 459. Burlington, MA: Academic Press. ã Elsevier.




The preliminary examination of fire debris samples is, thus, a

very crucial step that should never be undermined.

Significance of Findings

Fire debris analysis is an extremely complex science and the

reason is twofold. First, the interpretation of chromatograms is

rendered very difficult due to the numerous components of many different IL and the presence of interfering products. The

second reason is that the simple presence of ILR in a debris does

not imply at all that it was used as an accelerant in the fire. This

last determination requires the experience of both the fire debris

analyst and thefire investigator, as wellas a verygood knowledge

of the fire scene and the circumstances surrounding the fire.

See also: Chemistry/Trace/Fire Investigation: Analysis of Fire

Debris; Chemistry of Fire; Thermal Degradation; Methods: Gas

Chromatography; Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry; Mass

Spectrometry.

Further Reading

ASTM International (2010) ASTM E1618-10 Standard Test Method for Ignitable Liquid Residues in Extracts from Fire Debris Samples by Gas Chromatography-Mass

Spectrometry , Annual Book of ASTM Standards 14.02. West Conshohocken, PA:ASTM International.

Byron DE (2002) The effects of surfactants and microbes on the identification ofignitable liquids in fire debris analysis. Fire and Arson Investigator 53(1): 50ss.

DeHaan JD, Brien DJ, and Large R (2004) Volatile organic compounds fromthe combustion of human and animal tissue. Science and Justice 44(4):223–236.

DeHaan JD and Icove DJ (2011) Kirk’s Fire Investigation, 7th edn. Upper Saddle River,NJ: Pearson Education.

Gilbert MW (1998) The use of individual extracted ion profiles versus summed

extracted ion profiles in fire debris analysis. Journal of Forensic Sciences 43(4):871–876.

Leffle WL (2000) Petroleum Refining in Nontechnical Language, 3rd edn. Tulsa, OK:PennWell Corporation.

Lentini JJ, Dolan JA, and Cherry C (2000) The petroleum-laced background. Journal of Forensic Sciences 45(5): 968–989.

Mann DC and Gresham WR (1990) Microbial degradation of gasoline in soil. Journal of Forensic Sciences 35(4): 913–923.

McGee E and Lang TL (2002) A study of the effects of a micelle encapsulator firesuppression agent on dynamic headspace analysis of fire debris samples. Journal of

Forensic Sciences 47(2): 267–274.Newman R, Gilbert M, and Lothridge K (1997) GC-MS Guide to Ignitable Liquids. Boca

Raton, FL: CRC Press.Nic Daeid N (2004) Fire Investigation. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.Spreight JC (1999) The Chemistry and Technology of Petroleum , 3rd edn. New York,

NY: Marcel Dekker.Stauffer E (2003) Basic concept of pyrolysis for fire debris analysts. Science and Justice

43(1): 29–40.Stauffer E, Dolan JA, and Newman R (2008) Fire Debris Analysis. Burlington, MA:

Academic Press.Trimpe MA (1991) Turpentine in arson analysis. Journal of Forensic Sciences 36(4):

1059–1073.


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