Citation

Lam R, Lennard C, Kingsland G, Johnstone P, Symons A, Wythes L, Fewtrell J, O'Brien D, Spikmans V. Forensic Sci. Res. 2020; 5(2): 150-164.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/20961790.2019.1662648

PMID

32939431 PMCID

Abstract

Building and factory fires pose a great risk to human and environmental health, due to the release of hazardous by-products of combustion. These hazardous compounds can dissipate into the environment through fire water run-off, and the impact can be immediate or chronic. Current laboratory-based methods do not report hazardous compounds released from a fire scene at the time and location of the event. Reporting of results is often delayed due to the complexities and logistics of laboratory-based sampling and analysis. These delays pose a risk to the health and wellbeing of the environment and exposed community. Recent developments in person-portable instrumentation have the potential to provide rapid analysis of samples in the field. A portable gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer (GC-MS) was evaluated for the on-site analysis of water samples for the identification of hazardous organic compounds at fire scenes. The portable GC-MS was capable of detecting and identifying a range of volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds in fire water run-off, and can be used in conjunction with conventional laboratory analysis methods for a comprehensive understanding of hazardous organics released at fire scenes. Deployment of this portable instrumentation provides first responders with a rapid, on-site screening tool to appropriately manage the run-off water from firefighting activities. This ensures that environmental and human health is proactively protected.

Language: en

Keywords

fire; Forensic sciences; field analysis; portable GC-MS; SPME; SVOCs; VOCs; water pollution