ISSN: 0022-1198
CODEN: JFSCA
Published Online: 1 October 1982
Page Count: 9

Assessment of Solvents for the Recovery of Nitroglycerine from Hands Using Cotton Swabs
Higgs, DG
Principal scientific officer and senior scientific officer, Royal Armament Research and Development Establishment,

Twibell, JD
Senior scientific officer and assistant scientific officer, Home Office Central Research Establishment, Berkshire

Home, JM
Senior scientific officer and assistant scientific officer, Home Office Central Research Establishment, Berkshire

Smalldon, KW
Principal scientific officer, Home Office Forensic Science Laboratory, Lanes

Hayes, TS
Principal scientific officer and senior scientific officer, Royal Armament Research and Development Establishment,

(Received 16 December 1981; accepted 20 January 1982)

Abstract

Eight solvents were compared for their relative efficiency in removing nitroglycerine from the hands of persons handling explosives. The amount of interfering material also removed from the hands by the cotton swabs and the stability of the nitroglycerine in the solvent used were also investigated. Aqueous solvents yielded the best recoveries, when the extracts were partially purified by thin-layer chromatography before analysis, but the explosive was degraded rapidly by microorganisms that grew in the solutions. Of the aqueous, organic, and polar solvents tested, ethanol was found to offer the most complete, consistent, and stable recovery.

Keywords:
criminalistics, explosives, nitroglycerine, ethanol, gas chromatography

Paper ID: JFS12194J
DOI: 10.1520/JFS12194J
ASTM International is a member of CrossRef.