Emerging techniques for the detection of pyrotechnic residues from seized postal packages containing fireworks

Bezemer, Karlijn; Forbes, Thomas P.; Hulsbergen, Annemieke; Verkouteren, Jennifer R.; Krauss, Shannon T.; Koeberg, Mattijs; Schoenmakers, Peter J.; Gillen, Greg; Asten, Arian C. van

doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2020.110160

Cited by 15 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…This could be minimized by further dilution of the collected sample. The minimal presence of nitrate in this sample with a signal approximately 15× lower than perchlorate likely a result of nitrate background from the cardboard firecracker tubing, as described previously [18].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 70%

“…A wide array of conventional and novel analytical methods have been employed for the detection and chemical analysis of inorganic oxidizers and related explosive mixtures, including ion chromatography [5,9,10], infrared and Raman spectroscopies [11][12][13][14], colorimetry [15], ion mobility spectrometry [16,17], mass spectrometry (MS) [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27], and capillary electrophoresis (CE) [2,8,28,29]. These techniques offer a range of sensitivity, specificity, analysis time, instrumentation cost, and sample cleanup requirements.…”

Section: Bureau Of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (Atf)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…CE has emerged as a selective orthogonal method to analytical techniques that provide structural or elemental characterization, enabling rapid and efficient separation of inorganic anions from complex mixtures. Both laboratory and portable CE systems have demonstrated separation of anions and cations relevant to explosive-based applications, most commonly using capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection (C 4 D) [2,18,28,[32][33][34][35][36][37]. The simultaneous separation of both anions and cations using CE presents a challenge due to the opposing charges, requiring reversal of the electroosmotic flow (EOF) and applied voltage polarity for separation from a single sample injection [38,39].…”

Section: Bureau Of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (Atf)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The utility of pyrotechnic detection applies directly to the forensic analysis of confiscated packages by law enforcement presumed to contain illicit fireworks based on composition or weight regulations [18], and the environmental monitoring and remediation challenge of large soil areas and bodies of water polluted by firework displays [58]. Samples were collected for analysis from the cardboard tubing of three firecrackers that once contained the explosive pyrotechnic material.…”

Section: Pyrotechnicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Samples were collected for analysis from the cardboard tubing of three firecrackers that once contained the explosive pyrotechnic material. These fireworks were known to contain either a mixture of black powder and flash powder or flash powder only (potassium perchlorate and aluminum) [18]. Figure 4 shows the presence of nitrate and perchlorate leading to the detection of both the black powder and flash powder inorganic components.…”

Section: Pyrotechnicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Inorganic oxidizer detection from propellants, pyrotechnics, and homemade explosive powders using gradient elution moving boundary electrophoresis

2020

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Advancement in rapid targeted chemical analysis of homemade and improvised explosive devices is critical for the identification of explosives‐based hazards and threats. Gradient elution moving boundary electrophoresis (GEMBE), a robust electrokinetic separation technique, was employed for the separation and detection of common inorganic oxidizers from frequently encountered fuel‐oxidizer mixtures. The GEMBE system incorporated sample and run buffer reservoirs, a short capillary (5 cm), an applied electric field, and a pressure‐driven counterflow. GEMBE provided a separation format that allowed for continuous injection of sample, selectivity of analytes, and no sample cleanup or filtration prior to analysis. Nitrate, chlorate, and perchlorate oxidizers were successfully detected from low explosive propellants (e.g., black powders and black powder substitutes), pyrotechnics (e.g., flash powder), and tertiary explosive mixtures (e.g., ammonium nitrate‐ and potassium chlorate‐based fuel‐oxidizer mixtures). Separation of these mixtures exhibited detection without interference from a plethora of additional organic and inorganic fuels, enabled single particle analysis, and demonstrated semiquantitative capabilities. The bulk counterflow successfully excluded difficult components from fouling the capillary, yielding estimated limits of detection down to approximately 10 μmol/L. Finally, nitrate was separated and detected from postblast debris collected and directly analyzed from two nitrate‐based charges.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 70%

Section: Bureau Of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (Atf)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Bureau Of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (Atf)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Pyrotechnicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Pyrotechnicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Inorganic oxidizer detection from propellants, pyrotechnics, and homemade explosive powders using gradient elution moving boundary electrophoresis

2020

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EDTA‐Assisted MPT‐MS for Trace Analysis of Heavy Metals in Fireworks

Zhao,

Huang,

Yang

et al. 2024

J Mass Spectrom

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A novel method was developed for the rapid detection of heavy metals in firework solutions with high sensitivity and minimal pretreatment by enriching them with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) reagent and analyzing them using microwave plasma torch mass spectrometry (MPT‐MS). Quantitative results showed that the limits of detection and quantification for heavy metals (Pb, Ba, Sr, and Ag) ranged from 0.05 to 0.25 and 0.38 to 0.71 μg·L−1, respectively. The linear dynamic ranges covered at least two orders of magnitude, with correlation coefficients exceeding 0.99. Fireworks from five regions in China were also analyzed quantitatively, detecting heavy metals including Pb, Ba, Sr, and Ag, with recovery rates ranging from 87.9% to 107.5%. Good separation between the firework samples from different regions was achieved by using element ratios and principal component analysis (PCA). These results from the preliminary study showed that the EDTA‐assisted MPT‐MS combined with PCA is a powerful tool for characterizing firework samples and tracing them back to their sources, which is valuable to effectively regulate and manage banned fireworks.

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Plasma‐based ambient mass spectrometry: Recent progress and applications

Yue

Zhao

et al. 2021

Mass Spectrometry Reviews

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Ambient mass spectrometry (AMS) has grown as a group of advanced analytical techniques that allow for the direct sampling and ionization of the analytes in different statuses from their native environment without or with minimum sample pretreatments. As a significant category of AMS, plasma-based AMS has gained a -• , CO 3 -• , NO 2 -• , and the most abundant species is O 2 -• (Cody & Dane, 2013). A review by Gross (Gross, 2014) explained the ionization mechanism in greater detail, and the typical ions generated in the DART source are shown in Table 2. Another

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Emerging techniques for the detection of pyrotechnic residues from seized postal packages containing fireworks

Cited by 15 publications

References 43 publications

Inorganic oxidizer detection from propellants, pyrotechnics, and homemade explosive powders using gradient elution moving boundary electrophoresis

Inorganic oxidizer detection from propellants, pyrotechnics, and homemade explosive powders using gradient elution moving boundary electrophoresis

EDTA‐Assisted MPT‐MS for Trace Analysis of Heavy Metals in Fireworks

Plasma‐based ambient mass spectrometry: Recent progress and applications

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